ereyesterday

English

WOTD – 27 December 2025

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂ey-

Proto-Indo-European *-eri

Proto-Indo-European *h₂éyeri

Proto-Germanic *airi

Proto-Germanic *airiz

Old English ǣr

Middle English er

English ere

Proto-Indo-European *dʰǵʰyés

Proto-Indo-European *-teros

Proto-Indo-European *dʰǵʰyésteros

Proto-Germanic *gesteraz

Proto-Germanic *-n

Proto-Germanic *gesteran

Proto-West Germanic *gesteran

Old English ġiestran

Proto-Indo-European *dʰegʷʰ-?

Proto-Germanic *dagaz

Proto-West Germanic *dag

Old English dæġ

Old English ġiestrandæġ

Middle English yesterday

English yesterday

English ereyesterday

From ere (“before”, preposition) +‎ yesterday. Compare French avant-hier, Dutch eergisteren, German vorgestern, Polish przedwczoraj, Swedish förrgår or Danish forgårs.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɛəˈjɛstədeɪ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɛəɹˈjɛstəɹdeɪ/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ere‧yes‧ter‧day

Adverb

ereyesterday (not comparable)

1. (obsolete except Ireland, Scotland) On the day before yesterday.

   Alternative forms: ere-yesterday, ere yesterday

   Antonym: (archaic) overmorrow

   • 1640 July 25 (date written; Gregorian calendar), William Fenwick, “Vol. CCCCLX. 14. Sir William Fenwick to Sir John Digby.”, in William Douglas Hamilton, editor, Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, of the Reign of Charles I. 1640. […], London: Longmans & Co., […]; Trübner & Co., […], published 1880, →OCLC, page 480:

     […] Lord Ker [William Kerr, 1st Earl of Lothian] lifted his men ere yesterday at Kelso, and if captain or soldier know anything, Leslie will be with them on Friday, but he thinks they know no certainty of the depth of their resolution, only Leslie and their Council of War; […]

   • 1644 December 14 (date written; Gregorian calendar), M. O. Hertegan, “No. CCCXLVI. M. O. Hertigan to the Supreme Council of Kilkenny.”, in A Collection of Letters, Written by the Kings Charles I. and II. the Duke of Ormonde, the Secretaries of State, the Marquess of Clanricarde, and Other Great Men, during the Troubles of Great Britain and Ireland. […], volume III, London: […] J. J. and P. Knapton, […]; G. Strahan, […]; W. Innys and R. Manby, […]; F. Giles, […]; and T. Wotton, […], published 1735, →OCLC, page 361:

     Friday laſt (ere yeſterday) Cardinal Mazarine came to receive and confer vvith her upon all the demands, motions, and articles ſhe vvould propound; […]

   • 1657, “The Second Book of Moseh, Called Exodus. Chap[ter] V. [Verse 14.]”, in Theodore Haak, transl., The Dutch Annotations upon the Whole Bible: Or, All the Holy Canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, […], London: […] Henry Hills, for John Rothwell, Joshua Kirton, and Richard Tomlins, →OCLC, signature M2, verso, column 2:

     VVherefore have ye not completed your ſet vvork (or, your task) in making of bricks, as formerly, [Heb[rew] as yeſterday, ere yeſterday] ſo alſo yeſterday and to day?

   • 1853 (date written), Mrs. John [i.e., Mary] Winter, Where there’s a Will there’s a Way; or, The Old Family Name. An Old-fashioned Irish Comedy in Three Acts, […], Dublin: Hodges, Figgis, and Co. […]; London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co., […], published 1886, →OCLC, Act III, scene i, page 36:

     Your conduct is as unaccountable as it is inexcusable. If you were engaged elsewhere, why write me word ere yesterday, that you would be happy to become my son-in-law?

   • 1870, [Deborah Alcock], “Don Gonsalvo’s Revenge”, in The Spanish Brothers: A Tale of the Sixteenth Century. […], London; Edinburgh: T[homas] Nelson and Sons, […], published 1871, →OCLC, page 206:

     My flight was planned ere yesterday; and in concert with one who both can and will provide me with the means of safety. It is best I should go.

   • 1883, B[ithia] M[ary] Croker, “My Fate is Fixed”, in Pretty Miss Neville. […], volume I, London: Tinsley Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 115:

     ["]Ere yesterday," his choler rising at the mere recollection, "you picked every wan of the best Glory of John roses (Gloire de Dijon), and gave them to the lame girl at The Cross. Ye ought to be ashamed of yourself! See now!"

   • 1889, M[ichael] B[ernard] Buckley, “‘A Priestly Fenian’”, in Kate Buckley, editor, Diary of a Tour in America, Dublin: Sealy, Bryers & Walker, […], →OCLC, page 239:

     I did not know until this morning the flattering epithets bestowed upon me at some loyal festive gathering of "true blues" assembled ere-yesterday to celebrate the wedding on that day of the Marquis of Lorne [John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll] with the Princess Louisa [Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll] in this good city of Montreal.

Translations

on the day before yesterday — see day before yesterday

Noun

ereyesterday (uncountable)

1. (obsolete except Ireland, Scotland) The day before yesterday.

   Antonym: (archaic) overmorrow

   • 1535 October 14 (Gregorian calendar), Myles Coverdale, transl., Biblia: The Byble, […] (Coverdale Bible), [Cologne or Marburg]: [Eucharius Cervicornus and Johannes Soter?], →OCLC, Genesis xxxj:[2], folio xiiij, recto, column 1:

     And Iacob behelde Labans countenaunce, ⁊ beholde, it was not towarde him as yeſterdaye and yeryeſterdaye.

Coordinate terms

• morrow
• tomorrow
• yester
• yesterday
• yestereven
• yestern
• yesternight
• yesteryear
• yestreen

Translations

day before yesterday — see day before yesterday

See also

• nudiustertian (“of the day before yesterday”, adjective) (obsolete, rare)

Further reading

• D. J. K. (4 April 1868), “Ere-yesterday”, in Notes and Queries: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, General Readers, etc., volume I (4th Series), number 14, London: […] George Andrew Spottiswoode, […] [for] William Greig Smith, […], →OCLC, page 313, column 2: “There is a word in common use in Ireland which might, I think be raised above the rank of a provincialism. On Tuesday, for instance, an Irishman would speak of Sunday as ‘ere-yesterday.’”
• William Dickinson (1878), “Ere-yesterday, sb.”, in A Glossary of Words and Phrases Pertaining to the Dialect of Cumberland (Series C (Original Glossaries, and Glossaries with Fresh Additions); VIII), […] [F]or the English Dialect Society, by Trübner & Co., […], →OCLC, page 35: “the day before yesterday.”
• Alexander Warrack, compiler (1911), “Eve-, Ever-, Ere-yesterday, n.”, in Chambers Scots Dictionary […], Edinburgh; London: W[illiam] & R[obert] Chambers, […], →OCLC, page 160: “the day before yesterday.”
• “ereyesterday, n.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, reproduced from W[illiam] Grant and D[avid] D. Murison, editors, The Scottish National Dictionary, Edinburgh: Scottish National Dictionary Association, 1931–1976, →OCLC.