hesternal meaning (archaic): definition, etymology and quotations

hesternal

adj

UK /hɛsˈtɜːnl̩/ · US /hɛsˈtɝn(ə)l/

Etymology From Latin hesternus (“of or pertaining to yesterday; yesterday’s”) + English -al (suffix forming adjectives).

Grammar, Human sciences, Linguistics, Sciences Archaic, Literary, Regional Of or pertaining to yesterday.

[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 93:
But 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 118–119:

4 more examples

I 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 514:
I 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 196:
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 xxxii:
We 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 98:

Derived terms: prehesternal
Coordinate terms: crastinal, hodiernal, nudiustertian