Nudiustertian: The Day Before Yesterday

0
763

Many languages have specific words for “the day before yesterday”. The Portuguese call it anteontem, in Spanish, it’s anteayer, in German, vorgestern.  The English language however, is surprisingly lacking in any such term. The closest we have is the obscure word Nudiustertian:

Nudiustertian – from Latin nudius tertius –  formed from the phrase nunc dies tertius est, meaning now is the third day.

The word was coined by Puritan Minister Nathaniel Ward in the 1500s. Ward liked to invent words, many of which were listed in the Oxford English Dictionary.  It is noted that most of them however were only ever used by him. In fact, the term nudiustertian may have only ever been used in the following phrase: ” “In a word, whatever Christianity or civility will allow, I can afford with London measure: but when I hear a nugiperous gentledame inquire what dress the Queen is in this week: what the nudiustertian fashion of the Court;”

(World Wide WordsWordsmith.orgHistory of American LiteratureWordReference.com)