Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adverb At this time; for the present.
  • adverb Up to a specified time; thus far.
  • adverb At a future time; eventually.
  • adverb Besides; in addition.
  • adverb Still more; even.
  • adverb Nevertheless.
  • conjunction And despite this; nevertheless.
  • idiom (as yet) Up to the present time; up to now.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A metal pan or boiler. See yetling, 2.
  • At or in the present time or juncture; before something else; at present; now: as, shall the deed be done yet? is it time yet?
  • In addition; over and above; in repetition; further; besides; still; even: used especially with comparatives.
  • Still, in continuance of a former state; at this or at that time, as formerly; now or then, as at a previous period.
  • At or before some future time; before all is done.
  • Up to the present time; thus far; hitherto; already: usually with a negative.
  • Yet is often accompanied by as in this sense: as, I have not met him as yet.
  • Though the case be such; at least; at any rate.
  • Yet is sometimes used with adjectives or participles (with or without a hyphen) to denote continuance of the action or state, or as equivalent to still.
  • Nevertheless; notwithstanding.
  • Though.
  • But.
  • noun A West African volute of the genus Cymbium; a boat-shell. See cut under Cymbium.
  • To melt; found; cast, as metal.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adverb In addition; further; besides; over and above; still.
  • adverb At the same time; by continuance from a former state; still.
  • adverb Up to the present time; thus far; hitherto; until now; -- and with the negative, not yet, not up to the present time; not as soon as now. See As yet, under As, conj.
  • adverb Before some future time; before the end; eventually; in time.
  • adverb Even; -- used emphatically.
  • noun (Zoöl.) Any one of several species of large marine gastropods belonging to the genus Yetus, or Cymba; a boat shell.
  • conjunction Nevertheless; notwithstanding; however.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb dialectal To melt; found; cast, as metal.
  • noun dialectal A metal pan or boiler; yetling.
  • adverb usually with negative Thus far; up to the present; up to some specified time.
  • adverb Continuously up to a certain time; still.
  • adverb At some future time; eventually.
  • adverb In addition.
  • adverb degree Even.
  • conjunction Nevertheless; however; but; despite that.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adverb up to the present time
  • adverb used in negative statement to describe a situation that has existed up to this point or up to the present time
  • adverb despite anything to the contrary (usually following a concession)
  • adverb within an indefinite time or at an unspecified future time
  • adverb used after a superlative
  • adverb to a greater degree or extent; used with comparisons

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old English gīet; see i- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English yeten, from Old English ġēotan ("to flow, pour"), from Proto-Germanic *geutanan (“to flow, pour”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰew-, *ǵʰōw- (“to pour”). Cognate with Scots yat ("to yet"), West Frisian jitte ("to scatter, shed, pour"), Dutch gieten ("to pour, cast, mould"), German giessen ("to pour, cast, mould"), Swedish gjuta ("to pour, cast"). More at yote.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English yet, yit, from Old English ġīet, gȳta, from Proto-Germanic *iúta (compare West Frisian jit, Dutch ooit ‘ever’, German jetzt ‘now’), compound of (1) *ī́ui (adv.) ‘ever’ (see English aye), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂i̯éu-, accusative of *h₂éi̯us ‘long time’ and (2) the intensifying enclitic *-ta, from Proto-Indo-European *do. More at aye and -th.

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Examples

  • "Time enough yet, when she was only eighteen, plenty more gemmen; no hurry _yet_ for Miss Fannie."

    Little Ferns For Fanny's Little Friends Fanny Fern

  • To surrender was made very difficult for me by Eugene Field, who had publicly celebrated me as "the sturdy opponent of the swallow-tail suit," and yet he himself, -- though still outwardly faithful -- had been heard to say, "I may be forced to wear the damned thing _yet_."

    A Daughter of the Middle Border Hamlin Garland 1900

  • She did mention Coryston, only to say with energy: "I don't want to see him yet -- not _yet_!"

    The Coryston Family A Novel Humphry Ward 1885

  • _ -- Children, on account of the as yet deficient control of the external organs of speech, especially of the tongue, can _not yet_ form some sounds, and therefore omit them.

    The Mind of the Child, Part II The Development of the Intellect, International Education Series Edited By William T. Harris, Volume IX. William T. Preyer 1869

  • Then all the foreign matter, the defilement which earth pours into them, falls to the ground, and into them the trout work up for life and health and food; and through their swift yet yielding eddies -- _moulding themselves to every accident_, _yet separate and undefiled_ -- shine up the delicate beauties of the subaqueous world, the

    Daily Thoughts selected from the writings of Charles Kingsley by his wife Charles Kingsley 1847

  • Before yet a song of joy or of mourning had gone forth from the valleys of Norway -- before yet a smoke-wreath had ascended from its huts -- before an axe had felled a tree of its woods -- before yet king Nor burst forth from Jotunhem to seek his lost sister, and passing through the land gave to it his name; nay, before _yet_ there was a Norwegian, stood the high

    Strife and Peace Fredrika Bremer 1833

  • "You are right, you are right, but her heart don't bleed yet -- _not yet_."

    Helen and Arthur or, Miss Thusa's Spinning Wheel Caroline Lee Hentz 1828

  • V. i.52 (246,8) A poor Aegyptian yet; the queen my mistress] If this punctuation be right, the man means to say, that he is _yet an

    Notes to Shakespeare, Volume III: The Tragedies Samuel Johnson 1746

  • III. ii.24 (321,5) yet had he mistook him, and sent him to me] [W: mislook'd] I rather read, _yet had he_ not _mistook him, and sent to me_.

    Notes to Shakespeare, Volume III: The Tragedies Samuel Johnson 1746

  • He hasn't reached the half-way point of his term yet, but Christie had already earned a reputation nationally as a brash fiscal conservative who had taken on state employee and teachers unions.

    News - latimes.com 2011

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