yonder

Etymology

From Middle English yonder, yondre, ȝondre, ȝendre, from Old English ġeonre (“thither; yonder”, adverb), equivalent to yond (from ġeond, from Proto-Germanic *jainaz) + -er, as in hither, thither. Cognate with Scots ȝondir (“yonder”), Saterland Frisian tjunder (“over there, yonder”), Dutch ginder (“over there; yonder”), Middle Low German ginder, gender (“over there”), German jener (“over there”), Gothic 𐌾𐌰𐌹𐌽𐌳𐍂𐌴 (jaindrē, “thither”).

adv

1. (archaic or dialect) At or in a distant but indicated place.
   Whose doublewide is that over yonder?
2. (archaic or dialect) Synonym of thither: to a distant but indicated place.
   As for me and the childe, we wyl go yonder. 1535, Bible (Coverdale), Genesis, 22
   They headed on over yonder.

adj

1. (archaic or dialect) The farther, the more distant of two choices.

det

1. (archaic or dialect, as an adjective) Who or which is over yonder, usually distant but within sight.
   Yonder lass, who be she?
   I wish I were on yonder hill and there I’d sit and I’d cry my fill, and ev’ry tear would turn a mill, And a blessing walk with you, my love 2006, Cécile Corbel (lyrics and music), “Siúil a Ruin”, in Songbook 1, performed by Cécile Corbel, Brittany: Keltia Musique
2. (archaic or dialect, as a pronoun) One who or which is over yonder, usually distant but within sight.
   The yonder is Queen Niobe.

noun

1. (literary) The vast distance, particularly the sky or trackless forest.
   Off we go in to the wild blue yonder, Climbing high into the sun... 1939, Robert MacArthur Crawford, Army Air Corps: