昨日

Cantonese

Hanzi

昨日 (Yale jok3 yat6)

1. yesterday

Synonyms

• 尋日, 昨天

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Japanese

Kanji in this term
昨	日

Etymology 1

From Old Japanese. [kinopu] > [kinoɸu] > [*kinowu] > [kinou] > [kinoː].　The initial /ki/ is unclear, but likely the same /ki/ element that appears in other words pertaining to the past. The middle /no/ appears to be the genitive particle. The final /pu/ is an apophonic form of hi (“day”).

The kanji are an example of jukujikun.

Noun

昨日 (hiragana きのう, romaji kinō, historical hiragana きのふ)

1. yesterday

   昨日、東京は曇りでしたか。

   きのう、とうきょうはくもりでしたか。

   Kinō, Tōkyō wa kumori deshita ka.

   Was it cloudy in Tokyo yesterday?

Etymology 2

From Sinitic 昨日.

Noun

昨日 (hiragana さくじつ, romaji sakujitsu)

1. yesterday

Etymology 3

From Old Japanese. The initial /ki/ is unclear, but likely the same /ki/ element that appears in other words pertaining to the past. The final /so/ is also unclear, but probably the same as the final /zo/ in kozo.

Noun

昨日 (hiragana きそ, romaji kiso)

1. last night
2. yesterday

Coordinate terms

• 一昨日 (おととい, ototoi): the day before yesterday
• 明日 (あした, ashita): tomorrow
• 明後日 (あさって, asatte): the day after tomorrow

• 一昨々日 (さきおととい, saki ototoi; さきおとつい, saki ototsui; いっさくさくじつ, issaku sakujitsu): three days ago
• 一昨日 (おととい, ototoi): the day before yesterday, two days ago
• 今日 (きょう, kyō): today
• 明日 (あした, ashita; あす, asu): tomorrow
• 明後日 (あさって, asatte): the day after tomorrow, two days from now
• 明々後日 (しあさって, shiasatte): three days from now
• 弥の明後日 (やのあさって, ya no asatte): three days from now; (dialectical) four days from now
• 今朝 (けさ, kesa): this morning
• 今晩 (こんばん, konban): this evening
• 今夜 (こんや, kon'ya): tonight

References

• The Oxford Starter Japanese Dictionary. ISBN 0-19-860197-2
• Daijirin, 3rd edition. Sanseido Books, 2006. ISBN 4385139059.
• Kokugo Dai Jiten Dictionary, revised edition. Shogakukan, 1988.

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Mandarin

simpl. and trad.
昨日

Noun

昨日 (traditional and simplified, Pinyin zuórì)

1. (literary) yesterday

Synonyms

• 昨天

References

• "昨日" (in Mandarin), Guoyu Cidian On-line Mandarin Dictionary (國語辭典). URL accessed on 2008-11-23.
• 2007, Hanyu Da Cidian 3.0 (in Mandarin), Hong Kong: Commercial Press, ISBN 9789620702778: