yesterday
yes·ter·day/ˈjɛstədeɪ/noun, adverb
yesterday is spelled Y-E-S-T-E-R-D-A-Y: 9 letters and 3 syllables (yes·ter·day). It appears 81 times per million words in written English, the 1,302nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, yesterday means “The day immediately before today; one day ago” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of yesterday is yesterdays.
How many letters and syllables are in yesterday?
| Letters | 9: Y-E-S-T-E-R-D-A-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: yes·ter·day |
| In writing | 81 times per million words; the 1,302nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is yesterday?
Yesterday appears 81 times per million words in written English, the 1,302nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce yesterday?
- UK /ˈjɛstədeɪ/
- UK /ˈjɛstədɪ/
- /ˈjɪstədə/
Yesterday has 3 syllables, split yes·ter·day in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-yesterday.ogg, En-us-yesterday.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of yesterday
- yesterdays plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does yesterday mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The day immediately before today; one day ago.
Today is the child of yesterday and the parent of tomorrow.
- 2
The past, often in terms of being outdated.
yesterday's technology
adverb
- 1
On the day before today.
I started to watch the video yesterday, but could only finish it this evening.
- 2
informalAs soon as possible.
I want this done yesterday!
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate yesterday?
Wiktionary records 4 abbreviations of yesterday: yday, yesty, yst, ytd.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Yesterday in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense day before today:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does yesterday come from?
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”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).