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• yester
  yester

  adjective

  of or relating to yesterday.
• yester-
  yester-

  a combining form, now unproductive, occurring in words that denote an extent of time one period prior to the present period, the nature of the period being specified by the second element of the compound.

yester

¹ American  

[yes-ter] / ˈjɛs tər /

adjective

Archaic.

1. of or relating to yesterday.

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yester- ² American  

1. a combining form, now unproductive, occurring in words that denote an extent of time one period prior to the present period, the nature of the period being specified by the second element of the compound.

   yesterweek.

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yester- ¹ British  

prefix

1. indicating the day before today

   yesterday

2. indicating a period of time before the present one

   yesteryear

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yester ² British  

/ ˈjɛstə /

adjective

1. Also: yestern.  archaic of or relating to yesterday

   yester sun

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Usage

What does yester- mean? Yester- is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “prior” or "previous." It is very occasionally used in a variety of terms, many archaic, to describe time periods. Yester- comes from Old English geostran, roughly meaning “yesterday.”

Etymology

Origin of yester¹

1570–80; back formation from yesterday, etc.

Origin of yester-²

Middle English; Old English geostran, giestron; cognate with Dutch gisteren, German gestern; akin to Latin hesternus of yesterday

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

yester yester-

These are not the words of the enthusiastic reformer of yester year � and for good reason.

From Time Magazine Archive

What now is will then tomorrow as now was be past yester ...

From Time Magazine Archive

He had forgotten the pangs of that as one forgets almost all his yester aches.

From In a Little Town by Hughes, Rupert

"Weel then," said the other, "Shust tak her, an' welcome, for she be die yester night."

From Amusing Prose Chap Books by Various

We were among our contemporary ancestors, far on the road to yester century.

From The Greater Love by McCarthy, George T.

I overheard a few comments as I walked to the bar, and realized that yester- day most of them had seen me wrapped in bandages, presumably with terrible wounds underneath.

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

The necromancy of yester-         day foreshadowed the mesmerism and hypno-         tism of to-day.

From Science and Health, with Key to the Scriptures by Eddy, Mary Baker