- yes
- O.E. gise, gese "so be it!," probably from gea, ge "so" (see yea) + si "be it!," third pers. imperative of beon "to be" (see be). Originally stronger than simple yea. Used in Shakespeare mainly as an answer to negative questions. Yes-man is first recorded 1912, Amer.Eng.
- yeshiva
- "Orthodox Jewish college or seminary," 1851, from Heb. yesibah "academy," lit. "a sitting," from yashav "to sit."
- yesterday
- O.E. geostran dæg, from dæg "day" + geostran "yesterday," from P.Gmc. *gestra- (cf. O.H.G. gestaron, Ger. gestern "yesterday," O.N. gær "tomorrow, yesterday," Goth. gistradagis "tomorrow"), originally "the other day" (reckoned from "today," either backward or forward), from PIE *ghes (cf. Skt. hyah, Avestan zyo, Pers. di, Gk. khthes, L. heri, O.Ir. indhe, Welsh doe "yesterday;" L. hesternus "of yesterday").
- yesteryear
- coined 1870 by Dante Gabriel Rossetti from yester(day) + year to translate Fr. antan (from V.L. *anteannum "the year before") in a refrain by François Villon: Mais ou sont les neiges d'antan? which Rossetti rendered "But where are the snows of yesteryear?"
- eyesight
- c.1200, from eye + sight.
- eyesore
- "something offensive to the eye," 1530, from eye + sore (n.).
- polyester
- 1929, formed from poly(mer) + ester. Polyester fiber was discovered 1941.