yesteryear
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Meaning
the recent past, especially as a time remembered nostalgically.
Structure
Usage
the fashion trends of yesteryear often make a surprising comeback.
he reminisced fondly about the radio dramas of yesteryear.
the technology, revolutionary in yesteryear, now seems quaint and cumbersome.
Etymology
The word 'yesteryear' is a modern poetic compound, deliberately archaic in construction. It was formed in the late 19th century by combining 'yester-', an obsolete prefix meaning 'of yesterday' (as in 'yestereve' or 'yesternight'), with the common noun 'year'. The term was popularized by its use in Edward FitzGerald's 1859 translation of 'The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam', where the phrase "the bird of time" is "on the wing" and has "but a little way to flutter—and the bird is on the wing" is often misquoted as "the birds of yesteryear." This literary adoption cemented its meaning, evoking a past time close enough to be remembered, yet irrevocably gone, blending the immediacy of 'yesterday' with the broader span of a 'year'.
Analysis
yester (old english, from 'geostran', meaning 'yesterday' or 'of yesterday'); year (old english, from 'gear', meaning 'year').