yet
- 1Up to now or up to a given time, or as soon as now; used mainly in questions, negatives, and after superlatives (not yet, the best yet, don't go yet).
The committee has not yet decided where to hold the conference.
Are we there yet, or do we have farther to go?
UsageUsually at the end of the clause or right after not: isn't finished yet, not yet known. Positive statements usually take already or still.
- 2Used to introduce a statement that contrasts with or seems surprising after what came before; nevertheless.
The instructions were clear, yet somehow everyone ended up confused.
He had every advantage, yet he squandered each opportunity.
UsageUnlike nevertheless, it can join two single words: simple yet effective, strange yet true.
Note
Contrast is the business here: what follows holds despite what came before. It does the work of but or nevertheless and can join whole clauses, as in I thought I knew you, yet how wrong was I.
- 3Used to stress something further or additional, or, before a comparative, an even greater degree: 'yet another delay', 'yet sharper'.
The new rules added yet another layer of paperwork for staff.
After three delays, the airline announced yet further changes to the schedule.
UsageMost common in yet another and yet again.
Note
Its commonest home is yet another, which stacks one more item on a pile already in view: "after yet another missed penalty", as Ben Dirs wrote for BBC Sport in 2011. It also measures what remains, as in two hours yet to go. In both uses it adds rather than contrasts. With comparatives the same idea means even, as in yet sharper.
- 4At some future time; eventually, especially in spite of present circumstances.
The underdog team could take the championship yet.
Given enough time, these seedlings will bear fruit yet.
UsageOften used with will or may: we may win yet or we may yet win. It can sound hopeful or defiant.
Similareventually, still, ultimately
Note
Confidence about the future, often with a note of defiance: the thing will happen, whatever matters look like now. Shakespeare's The Tempest uses it as a gleeful forecast: "He'll be hanged yet." Unlike the "so far" yet, it needs no question or negative around it.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- The Tempest is a work by William Shakespeare. en.wiktionary.org
- The quoted words occur in The Tempest; Gonzalo speaks them in Act 1, scene 1. folger.edu
Less common meanings
- 5In affirmative statements, still; continuing up to and including the present moment.
Though the hour was late, a single candle glowed yet in the window.
They atteſt facts vvhich they had heard vvhile they vvere yet heathens, and had they not found reaſon to believe them, they vvould ſtill have continued heathens, and have made no mention of them in their vvritings.
a. 1720 (date written), Joseph Addison, The Evidences of the Christian ReligionNote
Poetry and older prose keep this affirmative use alive, while everyday English gives the job to still. Joseph Addison, writing before 1720, uses both in one sentence: facts heard "while they were yet heathens", by people who "would still have continued heathens". The two could do the same job.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Joseph Addison wrote the passage before 1720. en.wikipedia.org
- Addison uses both quoted expressions in the same sentence, with the wording given. upload.wikimedia.org
- 6Placed between have or be and a to-infinitive to mark that something has not occurred up to now but could still occur.
Scientists have yet to find a cure for the common cold.
Most of the new housing promised for the town is yet to be built.
UsageNo not is needed: we have yet to hear means we have not heard so far. Also the best is yet to come.
Similarstill
Note
The construction is positive in form and negative in meaning, so it takes no not: have yet to find a cure says what have not found a cure yet says, while leaving the door open. With be it fits plans still unfulfilled (the results are yet to be announced), and in the best is yet to come the same open door turns hopeful.
- 7To obtain or acquire something.
- 8A metal pan or boiler, used for cooking or heating; also called a yetling.
- 9To melt metal and cast it, pouring the molten material into a mold.
- 10To pour out a liquid.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
Old English ġīet or gȳta passed into Middle English as yet or yit. It goes back to Proto-Germanic *juta, which joined *ju ("already"), perhaps from a Proto-Indo-European word meaning "long time," with *ta ("to, towards"). German jetzt ("now") is related, and Dutch ooit ("ever") may be too.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- English yet derives through Middle English yet or yit from Old English ġīet or gȳta and ultimately Proto-Germanic *juta. en.wiktionary.org
- Proto-Germanic *juta combines *ju, meaning already, with *ta, meaning to or towards. en.wiktionary.org
- The element *ju may derive from a Proto-Indo-European word meaning long time. en.wiktionary.org
- German jetzt means now and is related to yet. en.wiktionary.org
- Dutch ooit means ever and may also be related. en.wiktionary.org