Chapter 3

Ye*a"ra (?), n. (Bot.) The California poison oak (Rhus diversiloba). See under Poison, a.

Year"book` (?), n. 1. A book published yearly; any annual report or summary of the statistics or facts of a year, designed to be used as a reference book; as, the Congregational Yearbook.

2. (Eng. Law) A book containing annual reports of cases adjudged in the courts of England.

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The Yearbooks are the oldest English reports extant, beginning with the reign of Edward II., and ending with the reign of Henry VIII. They were published annually, and derive their name from that fact. They consist of eleven parts, or volumes, are written in Law French, and extend over nearly two hundred years. There are, however, several hiatuses, or chasms, in the series. Kent. Bouvier.

Yeared (?), a. Containing years; having existed or continued many years; aged. [Obs.] B. Jonson.

Year"ling (?), n. [Year + - ling.] An animal one year old, or in the second year of its age; -- applied chiefly to cattle, sheep, and horses.

Year"ling, a. Being a year old. "A yearling bullock to thy name small smoke." Pope.

Year"ly (?), a. [AS. geárlic.]

1. Happening, accruing, or coming every year; annual; as, a yearly income; a yearly feast.

2. Lasting a year; as, a yearly plant.

3. Accomplished in a year; as, the yearly circuit, or revolution, of the earth. Shak.

Year"ly, adv. [AS. geárlice.] Annually; once a year to year; as, blessings yearly bestowed.

Yearly will I do this rite.

Shak.

Yearn (yrn), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Yearned (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Yearning.] [Also earn, ern; probably a corruption of OE. ermen to grieve, AS. ierman, yrman, or geierman, geyrman, fr. earm wretched, poor; akin to D. & G. arm, Icel. armr, Goth. arms. The y- in English is perhaps due to the AS. ge (see Y-).] To pain; to grieve; to vex. [Obs.] "She laments, sir, for it, that it would yearn your heart to see it." Shak.

It yearns me not if men my garments wear.

Shak.

Yearn, v. i. To be pained or distressed; to grieve; to mourn. [Obs.] "Falstaff he is dead, and we must yearn therefore." Shak.

Yearn, v. i. & t. [See Yearnings.] To curdle, as milk. [Scot.]

Yearn, v. i. [OE. yernen, ernen, eornen, AS. geornian, gyrnan, fr. georn desirous, eager; akin to OS. gern desirous, girnean, gernean, to desire, D. gaarne gladly, willingly, G. gern, OHG. gerno, adv., gern, a., G. gier greed, OHG. gir greed, ger desirous, gern to desire, G. begehren, Icel. girna to desire, gjarn eager, Goth. faíhugaírns covetous, gaírnjan to desire, and perhaps to Gr. chai`rein to rejoice, be glad, Skr. hary to desire, to like. &radic;33.] To be filled with longing desire; to be harassed or rendered uneasy with longing, or feeling the want of a thing; to strain with emotions of affection or tenderness; to long; to be eager.

Joseph made haste; for his bowels did yearn upon his brother; and he sought where to weep.

Gen. xliii. 30.

Your mother's heart yearns towards you.

Addison.

Yearn"ful (?), a. [OE. eornful, AS. geornfull.] Desirous. [Obs.] Ormulum. P. Fletcher.

Yearn"ing*ly, adv. With yearning.

Yearn"ings (?), n. pl. [Cf. AS. geirnan, geyrnan, to rum. See 4th Earn.] The maws, or stomachs, of young calves, used as a rennet for curdling milk. [Scot.]

Yearth (?), n. The earth. [Obs.] "Is my son dead or hurt or on the yerthe felled?" Ld. Berners.

Yeast (?), n. [OE. eest, est, AS. gist; akin to D. gest, gist, G. gischt, gäscht, OHG. jesan, jerian, to ferment, G. gischen, gäschen, gähren, Gr. &?; boiled, zei^n to boil, Skr. yas. &radic;111.]

1. The foam, or troth (top yeast), or the sediment (bottom yeast), of beer or other in fermentation, which contains the yeast plant or its spores, and under certain conditions produces fermentation in saccharine or farinaceous substances; a preparation used for raising dough for bread or cakes, and making it light and puffy; barm; ferment.

2. Spume, or foam, of water.

They melt thy yeast of waves, which mar Alike the Armada's pride, or spoils of Trafalgar.

Byron.

Yeast cake, a mealy cake impregnated with the live germs of the yeast plant, and used as a conveniently transportable substitute for yeast. -- Yeast plant (Bot.), the vegetable organism, or fungus, of which beer yeast consists. The yeast plant is composed of simple cells, or granules, about one three-thousandth of an inch in diameter, often united into filaments which reproduce by budding, and under certain circumstances by the formation of spores. The name is extended to other ferments of the same genus. See Saccharomyces. - - Yeast powder, a baling powder, -- used instead of yeast in leavening bread.

Yeast"-bit`ten (?), a. (Brewing) A term used of beer when the froth of the yeast has reëntered the body of the beer.

Yeast"i*ness (?), n. The quality or state of being yeasty, or frothy.

Yeast"y (?), a. Frothy; foamy; spumy, like yeast.

Yed"ding (?), n. [AS. geddung, gidding, giedding, from gieddian, giddian, to sing, speak.] The song of a minstrel; hence, any song. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Yede (?), obs. imp. Went. See Yode.

All as he bade fulfilled was indeed This ilke servant anon right out yede.

Chaucer.

Spenser and some later writers mistook this for a present of the defective imperfect yode. It is, however, only a variant of yode. See Yode, and cf. Yead.

[He] on foot was forced for to yeed.

Spenser

Yeel (?), n. An eel. [Obs.] Holland.

Yeld"hall` (?), n. Guildhall. [Obs.] Chaucer.

{Yel"drin (?) or Yel"drine }, n. [Cf. Yellow.] (Zoöl.) The yellow-hammer; -- called also yeldrock, and yoldrin. [Prov. Eng.]

Yelk (?), n. Same as Yolk.

Yell (yl), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Yelled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Yelling.] [OE. yellen, ellen, AS. giellan, gillan, gyllan; akin to D. gillen, OHG. gellan, G. gellen, Icel. gjalla, Sw. gälla to ring, resound, and to AS., OS., & OHG. galan to sing, Icel. gala. Cf. 1st Gale, and Nightingale.] To cry out, or shriek, with a hideous noise; to cry or scream as with agony or horror.

They yelleden as feendes doon in helle.

Chaucer.

Nor the night raven, that still deadly yells.

Spenser.

Infernal ghosts and hellish furies round Environed thee; some howled, some yelled.

Milton.

Yell (?), v. t. To utter or declare with a yell; to proclaim in a loud tone. Shak.

Yell, n. A sharp, loud, hideous outcry.

Their hideous yells Rend the dark welkin.

J. Philips.

Yel"low (?), a. [Compar. Yellower (?); superl. Yellowest.] [OE. yelow, yelwe, elow, eoluw, from AS. geolu; akin to D. geel, OS. & OHG. gelo, G. gelb, Icel. gulr, Sw. gul, Dan. guul, L. helvus light bay, Gr. &?; young verdure, &?; greenish yellow, Skr. hari tawny, yellowish. &?;&?;&?;. Cf. Chlorine, Gall a bitter liquid, Gold, Yolk.] Being of a bright saffronlike color; of the color of gold or brass; having the hue of that part of the rainbow, or of the solar spectrum, which is between the orange and the green.

Her yellow hair was browded [braided] in a tress.

Chaucer.

A sweaty reaper from his tillage brought First fruits, the green ear and the yellow sheaf.

Milton.

The line of yellow light dies fast away.

Keble.

Yellow atrophy (Med.), a fatal affection of the liver, in which it undergoes fatty degeneration, and becomes rapidly smaller and of a deep yellow tinge. The marked symptoms are black vomit, delirium, convulsions, coma, and jaundice. -- Yellow bark, calisaya bark. -- Yellow bass (Zoöl.), a North American fresh-water bass (Morone interrupta) native of the lower parts of the Mississippi and its tributaries. It is yellow, with several more or less broken black stripes or bars. Called also barfish. -- Yellow berry. (Bot.) Same as Persian berry, under Persian. -- Yellow boy, a gold coin, as a guinea. [Slang] Arbuthnot. -- Yellow brier. (Bot.) See under Brier. -- Yellow bugle (Bot.), a European labiate plant (Ajuga Chamæpitys). -- Yellow bunting (Zoöl.), the European yellow-hammer. -- Yellow cat (Zoöl.), a yellow catfish; especially, the bashaw. -- Yellow copperas (Min.), a hydrous sulphate of iron; -- called also copiapite. -- Yellow copper ore, a sulphide of copper and iron; copper pyrites. See Chalcopyrite. -- Yellow cress (Bot.), a yellow-flowered, cruciferous plant (Barbarea præcox), sometimes grown as a salad plant. -- Yellow dock. (Bot.) See the Note under Dock. -- Yellow earth, a yellowish clay, colored by iron, sometimes used as a yellow pigment. -- Yellow fever (Med.), a malignant, contagious, febrile disease of warm climates, attended with jaundice, producing a yellow color of the skin, and with the black vomit. See Black vomit, in the Vocabulary. -- Yellow flag, the quarantine flag. See under Quarantine, and 3d Flag. -- Yellow jack. (a) The yellow fever. See under 2d Jack. (b) The quarantine flag. See under Quarantine. -- Yellow jacket (Zoöl.), any one of several species of American social wasps of the genus Vespa, in which the color of the body is partly bright yellow. These wasps are noted for their irritability, and for their painful stings. -- Yellow lead ore (Min.), wulfenite. -- Yellow lemur (Zoöl.), the kinkajou. -- Yellow macauco (Zoöl.), the kinkajou. -- Yellow mackerel (Zoöl.), the jurel. -- Yellow metal. Same as Muntz metal, under Metal. -- Yellow ocher (Min.), an impure, earthy variety of brown iron ore, which is used as a pigment. -- Yellow oxeye (Bot.), a yellow-flowered plant (Chrysanthemum segetum) closely related to the oxeye daisy. -- Yellow perch (Zoöl.), the common American perch. See Perch. -- Yellow pike (Zoöl.), the wall-eye. -- Yellow pine (Bot.), any of several kinds of pine; also, their yellowish and generally durable timber. Among the most common are valuable species are Pinus mitis and P. palustris of the Eastern and Southern States, and P. ponderosa and P. Arizonica of the Rocky Mountains and Pacific States. -- Yellow plover (Zoöl.), the golden plover. -- Yellow precipitate (Med. Chem.), an oxide of mercury which is thrown down as an amorphous yellow powder on adding corrosive sublimate to limewater. -- Yellow puccoon. (Bot.) Same as Orangeroot. -- Yellow rail (Zoöl.), a small American rail (Porzana Noveboracensis) in which the lower parts are dull yellow, darkest on the breast. The back is streaked with brownish yellow and with black, and spotted with white. Called also yellow crake. - - Yellow rattle, Yellow rocket. (Bot.) See under Rattle, and Rocket. -- Yellow Sally (Zoöl.), a greenish or yellowish European stone fly of the genus Chloroperla; -- so called by anglers. -- Yellow sculpin (Zoöl.), the dragonet. -- Yellow snake (Zoöl.), a West Indian boa (Chilobothrus inornatus) common in Jamaica. It becomes from eight to ten long. The body is yellowish or yellowish green, mixed with black, and anteriorly with black lines. -- Yellow spot. (a) (Anat.) A small yellowish spot with a central pit, the fovea centralis, in the center of the retina where vision is most accurate. See Eye. (b) (Zoöl.) A small American butterfly (Polites Peckius) of the Skipper family. Its wings are brownish, with a large, irregular, bright yellow spot on each of the hind wings, most conspicuous beneath. Called also Peck's skipper. See Illust. under Skipper, n., 5. -- Yellow tit (Zoöl.), any one of several species of crested titmice of the genus Machlolophus, native of India. The predominating colors of the plumage are yellow and green. -- Yellow viper (Zoöl.), the fer-de-lance. -- Yellow warbler (Zoöl.), any one of several species of American warblers of the genus Dendroica in which the predominant color is yellow, especially D. æstiva, which is a very abundant and familiar species; -- called also garden warbler, golden warbler, summer yellowbird, summer warbler, and yellow-poll warbler. -- Yellow wash (Pharm.), yellow oxide of mercury suspended in water, -- a mixture prepared by adding corrosive sublimate to limewater. -- Yellow wren (Zoöl.) (a) The European willow warbler. (b) The European wood warbler.

Yel"low, n. 1. A bright golden color, reflecting more light than any other except white; the color of that part of the spectrum which is between the orange and green. "A long motley coat guarded with yellow." Shak.

2. A yellow pigment.

Cadmium yellow, Chrome yellow, Indigo yellow, King's yellow, etc. See under Cadmium, Chrome, etc. -- Naples yellow, a yellow amorphous pigment, used in oil, porcelain, and enamel painting, consisting of a basic lead metantimonate, obtained by fusing together tartar emetic lead nitrate, and common salt. -- Patent yellow (Old Chem.), a yellow pigment consisting essentially of a lead oxychloride; -- called also Turner's yellow.

Yel"low (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Yellowed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Yellowing.] To make yellow; to cause to have a yellow tinge or color; to dye yellow.

Yel"low, v. i. To become yellow or yellower.

Yel"low*am`mer (?), n. (Zoöl.) See Yellow-hammer.

Yel"low*bill` (?), n. (Zoöl.) The American scoter.

Yel"low*bird` (?), n. (Zoöl.) (a) The American goldfinch, or thistle bird. See Goldfinch. (b) The common yellow warbler; -- called also summer yellowbird. See Illust. of Yellow warbler, under Yellow, a.

Yel"low-cov`ered (?), a. Covered or bound in yellow paper.

Yellow-covered literature, cheap sensational novels and trashy magazines; -- formerly so called from the usual color of their covers. [Colloq. U. S.] Bartlett.

Yel"low-eyed` (?), a. Having yellow eyes.

Yellow-eyed grass (Bot.), any plant of the genus Xyris.

Yel"low*fin` (?), n. (Zoöl.) A large squeteague.

Yel"low*fish` (?), n. (Zoöl.) A rock trout (Pleurogrammus monopterygius) found on the coast of Alaska; -- called also striped fish, and Atka mackerel.

Yel"low-golds` (?), n. (Bot.) A certain plant, probably the yellow oxeye. B. Jonson.

Yel"low*ham`mer (?), n. [For yellow- ammer, where ammer is fr. AS. amore a kind of bird; akin to G. ammer a yellow-hammer, OHG. amero.] (Zoöl.) (a) A common European finch (Emberiza citrinella). The color of the male is bright yellow on the breast, neck, and sides of the head, with the back yellow and brown, and the top of the head and the tail quills blackish. Called also yellow bunting, scribbling lark, and writing lark. [Written also yellow-ammer.] (b) The flicker. [Local, U. S.]

Yel"low*ing, n. The act or process of making yellow.

Softened . . . by the yellowing which time has given.

G. Eliot.

Yel"low*ish, a. Somewhat yellow; as, amber is of a yellowish color. -- Yel"low*ish*ness, n.

Yel"low*legs` (?), n. (Zoöl.) Any one of several species of long-legged sandpipers of the genus Totanus, in which the legs are bright yellow; -- called also stone snipe, tattler, telltale, yellowshanks; and yellowshins. See Tattler, 2.

Yel"low*ness, n. 1. The quality or state of being yellow; as, the yellowness of an orange.

2. Jealousy. [Obs.]

I will possess him with yellowness.

Shak.

Yel"low*root` (?), n. (Bot.) Any one of several plants with yellow roots. Specifically: (a) See Xanthorhiza. (b) Same as Orangeroot.

Yel"lows (?), n. 1. (Far.) A disease of the bile in horses, cattle, and sheep, causing yellowness of the eyes; jaundice.

His horse . . . sped with spavins, rayed with the yellows.

Shak.

2. (Bot.) A disease of plants, esp. of peach trees, in which the leaves turn to a yellowish color; jeterus.

3. (Zoöl.) A group of butterflies in which the predominating color is yellow. It includes the common small yellow butterflies. Called also redhorns, and sulphurs. See Sulphur.

Yel"low*seed` (?), n. (Bot.) A kind of pepper grass (Lepidium campestre).

{ Yel"low*shanks` (?), Yel"low*shins` (?), } n. (Zoöl.) See Yellolegs.

Yel"low*tail` (?), n. (Zoöl.) (a) Any one of several species of marine carangoid fishes of the genus Seriola; especially, the large California species (S. dorsalis) which sometimes weighs thirty or forty pounds, and is highly esteemed as a food fish; -- called also cavasina, and white salmon. (b) The mademoiselle, or silver perch. (c) The menhaden. (d) The runner, 12. (e) A California rockfish (Sebastodes flavidus). (f) The sailor's choice (Diplodus rhomboides).

Several other fishes are also locally called yellowtail.

Yel"low*throat` (?), n. (Zoöl.) Any one of several species of American ground warblers of the genus Geothlypis, esp. the Maryland yellowthroat (G. trichas), which is a very common species.

Yel"low*top` (?), n. (Bot.) A kind of grass, perhaps a species of Agrostis.

Yel"low*wood` (?), n. (Bot.) The wood of any one of several different kinds of trees; also, any one of the trees themselves. Among the trees so called are the Cladrastis tinctoria, an American leguminous tree; the several species of prickly ash (Xanthoxylum); the Australian Flindersia Oxleyana, a tree related to the mahogany; certain South African species of Podocarpus, trees related to the yew; the East Indian Podocarpus latifolia; and the true satinwood (Chloroxylon Swietenia). All these Old World trees furnish valuable timber.

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Yel"low*wort` (?), n. (Bot.) A European yellow-flowered, gentianaceous (Chlora perfoliata). The whole plant is intensely bitter, and is sometimes used as a tonic, and also in dyeing yellow.

Yelp (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Yelped (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Yelping.] [OE. yelpen, elpen, to boast, boast noisily, AS. gielpan, gilpan, gylpan; akin to OHG. gelph arrogant: cf. Icel. gjlpa to yelp. Cf. Yap.]

1. To boast. [Obs.]

I keep [care] not of armes for to yelpe.

Chaucer.

2. To utter a sharp, quick cry, as a hound; to bark shrilly with eagerness, pain, or fear; to yaup.

A little herd of England's timorous deer, Mazed with a yelping kennel of French curs?

Shak.

At the least flourish of a broomstick or ladle, he would fly to the door with a yelping precipitation.

W. Irving.

Yelp, n. A sharp, quick cry; a bark. Chaucer.

Yelp"er (?), n. An animal that yelps, or makes a yelping noise. Specifically: (Zoöl.) (a) The avocet; -- so called from its sharp, shrill cry. [Prov. Eng.] (b) The tattler. [Local, U. S.]

Ye"man (?), n. A yeoman. [Obs.] Chaucer.

||Yen (?), n. The unit of value and account in Japan. Since Japan's adoption of the gold standard, in 1897, the value of the yen has been about 50 cents. The yen is equal to 100 sen.

Yend (?), v. t. To throw; to cast. [Prov. Eng.]

Ye"nite (?), n. [After Jena, in Germany.] (Min.) A silicate of iron and lime occurring in black prismatic crystals; -- also called ilvaite. [Spelt also jenite.]

Yeo"man (?), n.; pl. Yeomen (#). [OE. yoman, eman, oman; of uncertain origin; perhaps the first, syllable is akin to OFries. g district, region, G. gau, OHG. gewi, gouwi, Goth. gawi. &radic;100.]

1. A common man, or one of the commonly of the first or most respectable class; a freeholder; a man free born.

A yeoman in England is considered as next in order to the gentry. The word is little used in the United States, unless as a title in law proceedings and instruments, designating occupation, and this only in particular States.

2. A servant; a retainer. [Obs.]

A yeman hadde he and servants no mo.

Chaucer.

3. A yeoman of the guard; also, a member of the yeomanry cavalry. [Eng.]

4. (Naut.) An interior officer under the boatswain, gunner, or carpenters, charged with the stowage, account, and distribution of the stores.

Yeoman of the guard, one of the bodyguard of the English sovereign, consisting of the hundred yeomen, armed with partisans, and habited in the costume of the sixteenth century. They are members of the royal household.

Yeo"man*like` (?), a. Resembling, or suitable to, a yeoman; yeomanly.

Yeo"man*ly, a. Pertaining to a yeoman; becoming or suitable to, a yeoman; yeomanlike. B. Jonson.

Well could he dress his tackle yeomanly.

Chaucer.

Yeo"man*ry (?), n. 1. The position or rank of a yeoman. [Obs.] "His estate of yeomanry." Chaucer.

2. The collective body of yeomen, or freeholders.

The enfranchised yeomanry began to feel an instinct for dominion.

Bancroft.

3. The yeomanry cavalry. [Eng.]

Yeomanry cavalry, certain bodies of volunteer cavalry liable to service in Great Britain only. [Eng.]

Yeor"ling (?), n. [Cf. Yellow.] (Zoöl.) The European yellow-hammer.

Yer (?), prep. Ere; before. [Obs.] Sylvester.

||Yer"ba (?), n. [Sp.] (Bot.) An herb; a plant.

This word is much used in compound names of plants in Spanish; as, yerba buena [Sp., a good herb], a name applied in Spain to several kinds of mint (Mentha sativa, viridis, etc.), but in California universally applied to a common, sweet- scented labiate plant (Micromeria Douglasii).

Yerba dol osa. [Sp., herb of the she-bear.] A kind of buckthorn (Rhamnus Californica). -- Yerba mansa. [Sp., a mild herb, soft herb.] A plant (Anemopsis Californica) with a pungent, aromatic rootstock, used medicinally by the Mexicans and the Indians. -- Yerba reuma. [Cf. Sp. reuma rheum, rheumatism.] A low California undershrub (Frankenia grandifolia).

Yerd (?), n. See 1st & 2d Yard. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Yerk (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Yerked (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Yerking.] [See Yerk.]

1. To throw or thrust with a sudden, smart movement; to kick or strike suddenly; to jerk.

Their wounded steeds . . . Yerk out their armed heels at their dead masters.

Shak.

2. To strike or lash with a whip. [Obs. or Scot.]

Yerk, v. i. 1. To throw out the heels; to kick; to jerk.

They flirt, they yerk, they backward . . . fling.

Drayton.

2. To move a quick, jerking motion.

Yerk, n. A sudden or quick thrust or motion; a jerk.

Yern (?), v. i. See 3d Yearn. [Obs.]

Yern, a. [OE. ern, eorne, AS. georn desirous, eager. See Yearn to long.] Eager; brisk; quick; active. [Obs.] "Her song . . . loud and yern." Chaucer.

Yerne (?), adv. [OE. eorne. See Yern, a.] Eagerly; briskly; quickly. [Obs.] Piers Plowman.

My hands and my tongue go so yerne.

Chaucer.

Yer"nut` (?), n. [Cf. Dan. jordnöd, Sw. jordnöt, earthnut. Cf. Jarnut.] An earthnut, or groundnut. See Groundnut (d). [Written also yarnut.]

Yerst (?), adv. See Erst. [Obs.] Sylvester.

Yes (?), adv. [OE. yis, is, es, ise, AS. gese, gise; probably fr. geá yea + sw so. &radic;188. See Yea, and So.] Ay; yea; -- a word which expresses affirmation or consent; -- opposed to no.

Yes is used, like yea, to enforce, by repetition or addition, something which precedes; as, you have done all this -- yes, you have done more. "Yes, you despise the man books confined." Pope.

"The fine distinction between ‘yea' and ‘yes,' ‘nay' and ‘no,' that once existed in English, has quite disappeared. ‘Yea' and ‘nay' in Wyclif's time, and a good deal later, were the answers to questions framed in the affirmative. ‘Will he come?' To this it would have been replied, ‘Yea' or ‘Nay', as the case might be. But, ‘Will he not come?' To this the answer would have been ‘Yes' or ‘No.' Sir Thomas More finds fault with Tyndale, that in his translation of the Bible he had not observed this distinction, which was evidently therefore going out even then, that is, in the reign of Henry VIII.; and shortly after it was quite forgotten." Trench.

Yest (?), n. See Yeast. Shak.

Yes"ter (?), a. [See Yesterday.] Last; last past; next before; of or pertaining to yesterday.

[An enemy] whom yester sun beheld Mustering her charms.

Dryden.

This word is now seldom used except in a few compounds; as, yesterday, yesternight, etc.

Yes"ter*day (?), n. [OE. isterdai, AS. geostran dæg, from geostran, geostra, giestran, gistran, gystran, yesterday (akin to D. gisteren, G. gestern, OHG. gestaron, Icel. gær yesterday, to-morrow, Goth. gistradagis to-morrow, L. heri yesterday, Gr. &?;, Skr. hyas) + dæg day. Cf. Hestern. &?;&?;&?;&?;.]

1. The day last past; the day next before the present.

All our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death.

Shak.

We are but of yesterday, and know nothing.

Job viii. 9.

2. Fig.: A recent time; time not long past.

The proudest royal houses are but of yesterday, when compared with the line of supreme pontiffs.

Macaulay.

Yes"ter*day, adv. On the day last past; on the day preceding to-day; as, the affair took place yesterday.

{ Yes"ter*eve` (?), Yes"ter-e`ven*ing (?), } n. The evening of yesterday; the evening last past.