Where does “yesteryear” come from?

Yesteryear comes from Middle English yester- combined with Old English ġēar (year), which derives from Proto-Germanic gistr- and ultimately Proto-Indo-European yeh₁r-, meaning a cycle of seasons or year.

yesteryear (English): Past years; time gone by; yore; Last year

Definitions

  1. Past years; time gone by; yore; Last year

Ancestry of “yesteryear”, step by step

yesteryear traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English year

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishyearA solar year, the time it takes the Earth to...
2Middle Englishyeeryear
3Old Englishġēaryear
4Proto-West Germanicjāryear
5Proto-Germanicjērąyear; name of the J-rune
6Proto-Indo-Europeanyeh₁r-year

via English yester

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishyesterYesterday; Of or pertaining to yesterday
2Middle Englishyester—
3Old Englishgeostranyesterday
4Proto-Germanicgistr-yesterday
5Proto-Indo-Europeandʰǵʰyes-yesterday, the day before
6Proto-Indo-Europeandʰeǵʰ-day
Every word from Proto-Indo-European yeh₁r- →