overmorrow

The adverb is derived from over- (prefix meaning ‘above, higher’) +‎ morrow, probably a calque of German übermorgen (adverb) (compare also Übermorgen (noun)), from Middle High German übermorgen, from Old High German ubar morgan, ubar morgana,^[1][2] from obar, ubar (“above”) + morgan, morgana (“morning”).

The noun and adjective are derived from the adverb.

• (Received Pronunciation, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˌəʊvəˈmɒɹəʊ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˌoʊvəɹˈmɔɹoʊ/, (cot–caught merger) /-mɑ-/
• Rhymes: -ɒɹəʊ
• Hyphenation: over‧mor‧row

overmorrow (not comparable)

1. (archaic) On the day after tomorrow.

   Antonym: (archaic) ereyesterday

   Coordinate terms: in three days, last night, today, tomorrow, tomorrow night, tonight, yesterday

   • 1535 October 14 (Gregorian calendar), Myles Coverdale, transl., Biblia: The Byble, […] (Coverdale Bible), [Cologne or Marburg]: [Eucharius Cervicornus and Johannes Soter?], →OCLC, Tobias [Tobit] viij:[4], folio xxij, recto, column 2:

     Thẽ [then] ſpake Tobias vnto the virgin, and ſayde: Vp Sara, let vs make oure prayer vnto God to daye, tomorow, and ouermorow: for theſe thre nightes wil we reconcyle oure ſelues with God: and whan the thirde holy night is paſt, we ſhall ioyne together in yͤ deutye of mariage.

     Then spake Tobias unto the virgin, and said: Up Sara, let us make our prayer unto God today, tomorrow, and overmorrow: for these three nights will we reconcile ourselves with God, and when the third holy night is past, we shall join together in the duty of marriage.

     This is the earliest attestation of the word in the Oxford English Dictionary; Coverdale is known to have referred to the Luther Bible (completed version published in 1534), a German translation by the theologian and Protestant reformer Martin Luther.

   • [c. 1924 (date written), W[illiam] Joynston-Hicks [i.e., William Joynson-Hicks, 1st Viscount Brentford], “Vote of Censure Proposed”, in Parliamentary Debates (Hansard): House of Commons Official Report (House of Commons of the United Kingdom)‎^[1], volume 188, London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, published 1 December 1925, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 8 August 2024, column 1:

     "Yes, I will come, but it will take a few more days to clear up Delegation business. Can I follow you on Wednesday? Yours, [Arthur] McManus." / "We can go not overmorrow, but on Thursday."

     The word was used in a letter by an unidentified member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union who was not fluent in English, and quoted by Joynston-Hicks in his parliamentary speech.]

   • [1969, James Klugmann, quoting Bucharin, “Prelude to the General Strike”, in History of the Communist Party of Great Britain, volume 2 (The General Strike, 1925–1927), London: Lawrence & Wishart, →OCLC, page 73:

     Sinowjeff and myself go to Caucasus overmorrow. Will you with us? Wi kan not understand as necessary differences in the english party without the language. […] Excuse my for this analphabetical letter, […]

     The word was used in an undated letter by a writer who was not fluent in English.]

overmorrow (plural overmorrows)

1. (archaic) The day after tomorrow.

   Antonym: (archaic) ereyesterday

   Coordinate terms: last night, today, tomorrow, tomorrow night, tonight, yesterday

   • 1880, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, translated by Tho[ma]s E[benezer] Webb, Faust from the German of Goethe, Dublin: Hodges, Figgis, & Co., […]; London: Longmans, Green, & Co., […], →OCLC, Act IV, scene xix, page 239:

     My members borrow / A thrill from wild Walpurgis-night: / It comes round on the overmorrow— / Then why we wake we know aright.

     Translating German Übermorgen.

   • 2021, Lucy Holland [pseudonym; Lucy Hounsom], “Keyne”, in Sistersong, London: Pan Macmillan, →ISBN:

     She's been missing for days and now Ēostre is on the overmorrow.

     Used in a historical context.

   • 2021, L. L. Nelson [pseudonym; Laura Nelson], chapter 2, in Thegn of Svartån, [United States]: Nelding & Michcomb Publishing, →ISBN:

     The gesith demands an audience with the new thegn-heir, by over-morrow. If this does not happen, the gesith of Katla has decreed his place and its inhabitants be seen as invaders and dealt with as such.

   • 2022, Kenny Maule, “Early Summer 1969: A Stout, Wee Hut …”, in All Summer Long: A Cornish Beach Boy, Market Harborough, Leicestershire: The Book Guild, →ISBN:

     The lifeguards were mainly Aussies, rough drinkers who delighted in foul-mouthed utterings sprinkled with Aussie slang. They played up to this idea of the bronzed, grizzled, Aussie boozers who treated girls badly and were hungover until midday; that's midday on the overmorrow!

   • 2023 May 1, Vanshika Nagar, chapter 36, in Mayhem of Our Love (Our Love Series; 1), [S.l.]: Vanshika Nagar, →ISBN, page 218:

     "There's always a tomorrow … will you be there in it with me?" His hopeful eyes searched for a yes in them. "Not just tomorrow-tomorrow but the coming overmorrows and beyond that." I smiled hugging him abruptly.

overmorrow (not comparable)

1. (archaic, rare) Of or relating to the day after tomorrow.

   Antonym: (rare, obsolete) nudiustertian

   Coordinate term: today

   • 1577, Henrie Bullinger [i.e., Heinrich Bullinger], “Of the Lawfull Vse of Earthly Goods: That is, Howe We may Rightly Possesse and Lawfully Spende the Wealth that is Rightly and Iustly Gotten: Of Restitution and Almes Deedes. The Second Sermon.”, in H. I., transl., Fiftie Godlie and Learned Sermons, […], London: […] [Henry Middleton for] Ralphe Newberrie, […], →OCLC, 3rd decade, page 280, column 2:

     For thou néedeſt not by thy morrowe and ouermorrowe delayes to augment his diſcommoditie ⁊ [and] hinderance any longer, from whom thou haſt by thy ſubtile meanes and wicked violence, wreſted the goodes that he hath, conſidering yͭ [that] he to his loſſe hath lacked them long enough, ⁊ béen without them too too long God wott.

• “overmorrow”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.