indicating a period of time before the present one: yesteryear
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
yes•ter
(yes′tər),USA pronunciation adj. [Archaic.]
yester-,
- of or pertaining to yesterday. Also, yestern.
- back formation from yesterday, etc. 1570–80
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:yesterweek.
- Middle English; Old English geostran, giestron; cognate with Dutch gisteren, German gestern; akin to Latin hesternus of yesterday
'yester-' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
yester
- yesterday
- yestereve
- yesterevening
- yestermorning
- yestern
- yesternight
- yesternoon
- yesterweek
- yesteryear
- yestreen