Meanings
- archaicliterarynot comparableregionalgrammarOf or pertaining to yesterday.
The hesternal or 'yesterday', tense differs from the hodiernal in having a tone on the subject prefix.
[1965], “A Learner’s Synopsis of Kirundi Structure”, in Earl W[ilson] Stevick, editor, Kirundi: Basic Course […], Washington, D.C.: Foreign Service Institute, Department of State, →OCLC, page xxxii5 more examples
[A]t laſt, this happy fellow, on a high / Bed laid, and dawbed over with thick ointments, / Extends his rigid heels towards the door; but him / The heſternal Romans, with cover'd head, ſuſtained.
1795, Aulus Persius Flaccus, “Satire III”, in M[artin] Madan, transl., A New and Literal Translation of the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus, Dublin: […] John Exshaw, […], →OCLC, page 93But notwithstanding my cupidity for such dainties, I have that happy adaptation of taste which can banquet, with delight, upon hesternal offals; can nibble ignominious radishes, or masticate superannuated mutton.
1813, Eaton Stannard Barrett, “Letter X”, in The Heroine, or Adventures of a Fair Romance Reader, … In Three Volumes, volume I, London: […] Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, pages 118–119I will keep no further journal of that same hesternal torch‐light; and, to prevent me from returning, like a dog, to the vomit of memory, I tear out the remaining leaves of this volume, and write, in Ipecacuanha,—'that the Bourbons are restored!!!' 'Hang up philosophy.'
1814 April 19, Lord Byron [George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron], “Journal, 1814”, in Thomas Moore, editor, Letters and Journals of Lord Byron: […] In Two Volumes, volume I, London: John Murray, […], published 1830, →OCLC, page 514I rose by candle-light, and consumed, in the intensest application, the hours which every other individual of our party wasted in enervating slumbers, from the hesternal dissipation or debauch.
1828, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], chapter XX, in Pelham; or, The Adventures of a Gentleman. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 196We use the following meaning labels to characterize remoteness distinctions: [...] Hesternal past: the situation occurred yesterday, or on the day preceding the speech event. / Pre-hesternal past: the situation occurred before yesterday.
1994, Joan [Lea] Bybee, Revere [Dale] Perkins, William Pagliuca, “Anterior, Perfective, and Related Senses”, in The Evolution of Grammar: Tense, Aspect, and Modality in the Languages of the World, Chicago, Ill.; London: University of Chicago Press, →ISBN, section 3.16 (Degrees of Remoteness), page 98Synonyms: hestern
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveOf or pertaining to yesterday.
Origin
- Latinhesternus“of or pertaining to yesterday; yesterday’s”
- Englishhesternal
From Latin hesternus (“of or pertaining to yesterday; yesterday’s”) + English -al (suffix forming adjectives).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with hesternal
Cite this entry
hesternal. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hesternal
“hesternal.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hesternal. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hesternal,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hesternal.
Source: hesternal on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.