Yesterday Meaning
/ˈjɛstədeɪ/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounThe day immediately before today; one day ago.
nounThe past, often in terms of being outdated.
Sentence Examples
I went to the zoo yesterday.
The day before yesterday you impressed everyone, but I already knew you.
A company spokeswoman said yesterday that no final decision had been made yet.
CEFR Practice Quiz
We had a team meeting ____, but today's session has been canceled.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I went to the city museum ____ afternoon to see several the new exhibit about ancient and local history today.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English yesterday, yisterday, ȝesterdai, ȝisterdai, from Old English ġiestrandæġ, ġister dæġ, ġestor dæġ, ġeostran dæġ (“yesterday”), by surface analysis, yester- + day. Cognate with Scots yisterday, yesterday (“yesterday”), Saterland Frisian jässendeeg, järsendeges (“yesterday”, adverb), West Frisian justerdei (“yesterday”), Dutch gisterdag (“yesterday”), dialectal German gestertag (“yesterday”), Swedish gårdag (“yesterday”), Gothic 𐌲𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍂𐌰𐌳𐌰𐌲𐌹𐍃 (gistradagis, “tomorrow”, adverb). Compare further Dutch gisteren (“yesterday”), German gestern (“yesterday”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Yesterday, upon the stair / I met a man who wasn’t there / He wasn’t there again today / I wish, I wish he’d go away …"
— 1899, Hughes Mearns, Antigonish:
"Yesterday / All my troubles seemed so far away / Now it looks as though they're here to stay / Oh, I believe in yesterday"
— 1965, Paul McCartney, “Yesterday”, in Help!:
"All our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death."
— c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene v]:
"Risk is everywhere. From tabloid headlines insisting that coffee causes cancer (yesterday, of course, it cured it) to stern government warnings about alcohol and driving, the world is teeming with goblins. For each one there is a frighteningly precise measurement of just how likely it is to jump from the shadows and get you."
— 2013 June 22, “Snakes and ladders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 76:
""Europeans need to get to work yesterday and to focus," she says. "They have 5-10 years to stand on their own two feet in terms of conventional defence capabilities.""
— 2026 February 16, Katya Adler, Trump's new world order has become real and Europe is having to adjust fast, BBC:
Explore More A1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
We had a team meeting ____, but today's session has been canceled.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I went to the city museum ____ afternoon to see several the new exhibit about ancient and local history today.