Yesteryears

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The years gone by that are often reminisced about with affection or longing
2. A reference to past years, typically invoking a sense of nostalgia or reflection on former times
3. The past years that people often think about with sentimentality

Etymology: "Yesteryears" is the plural of "yesteryear," a noun meaning years long past. The plural is a little unusual, since the singular already sounds like a collection of years, but English speakers use it freely, as in "the films of yesteryears." The singular is a compound of "yester," an old word for "of yesterday," and "year." "Yester" survives mainly in this compound and in "yesterday" itself, which is built from the same root and "day." Its use in the phrase is a shortened, old-fashioned echo of "last year" stretched into "the years of the past."

Synonyms: past, previous years, former times, bygone days, antiquity