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I remember reading a text (I think it was written in Early Modern English, so the word I'm thinking of might be kind of archaic) and seeing just one word that meant "next year," would anyone happen to know it?

I've Googled a fair couple of rewordings of this question and nothing has turned up (which makes me worry I've just misremembered reading such a word). All of the online thesauruses I've looked at suggest synonyms that still use two or more words ("the coming year," "the following year," etc.)

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  • I don't know a word meaning next year, but proximo or prox means next month; it's from Latin and sounds old-fashioned; it may well be used in early modern English. collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/prox
    – Stuart F
    Nov 19, 2020 at 15:58
  • It seems unlikely to me that there is a single word. I don't think there is in any European language. Even German from which a lot of English derives doesn't have a singe word and they like long words! Shots in the dark that don't really answer the question: an old word for year is "twelvemonth" and of course there is "anon" that refers to an indefinite time in the future. Let us know if you find the answer!
    – chasly - supports Monica
    Nov 19, 2020 at 16:07
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    Next year is as much a single word as mixture.
    – John Lawler
    Nov 19, 2020 at 17:09
  • @John Lawler It would be labelled (4,4) in a crossword puzzle, as even Crystal would allow.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Nov 19, 2020 at 23:25
  • Are you getting confused and thinking of 'yesteryear' which is a fanciful (but just possibly an archaic) way of referring to times past? I tried looking up antonyms for 'yeateryear; without finding anything that looked archaic, or even meant 'next year' to be honest.
    – BoldBen
    Nov 19, 2020 at 23:32

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There’s twelvemonth, which:

  • Sometimes was written as a single word

  • In some contexts meant “next year”

  • Probably met both of those criteria in Early Modern English. In any case, there are plenty of examples from Middle English, such as this one from Rolls of Parliament (1429):

    ... paiable atte Cristemas come Twelmoneth. (“payable at Christmas come twelvemonth”)

(This word still appears in some dictionaries defined as “one year” though I have never heard it used before.)

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