Coined in English by Nathaniel Ward in The Simple Cobler of Aggawam in America in 1647, from Latin nudius tertius, meaning the day before yesterday, and the adjective nudiustertianus. The word soon became obsolete and survives mostly as a linguistic curiosity.
From the day before yesterday
adjective
time
archaic
Of or relating to the day before yesterday, now an obsolete word used mainly for learned or humorous effect and sometimes extended to mean very recent.
Examples
- His nudiustertian promise was already forgotten.
- The editor replaced nudiustertian with “from the day before yesterday” for clarity.
- Are those nudiustertian headlines still relevant?
- She jokingly described the leftovers as nudiustertian cuisine.
- In modern prose, nudiustertian usually sounds deliberately learned or playful.
Similar words
of the day before yesterday
two-days-old
very recent