year

noun — 13 senses

year

noun

UK /jɪə/ · CA, US /ˈjɪɚ/

Etymology

From Middle English yeer, yere, from Old English ġēar (“year”), from Proto-West Germanic *jār, from Proto-Germanic *jērą (“year”), from Proto-Indo-European *yóh₁r̥ (“year, spring”). Doublet of hora and hour. Cognates Cognate with Scots year (“year”), North Frisian djooar, iir, Jaar, jeer, juar, jäär (“year”), Saterland Frisian Jíer (“year”), West Frisian jier (“year”), Bavarian Joahr, Jåar, Jåhr (“year”), Cimbrian djar, jaar (“year”), Dutch jaar (“year”), German Jahr (“year”), Limburgish jaor, Johr, Joër (“year”), Low German Johr, Jåhr (“year”), Luxembourgish Joer (“year”), Mòcheno jor (“year”), Swabian Johr (“year”), Vilamovian jür (“year”), West Flemish joar (“year”), Yiddish יאָר (yor), יאָהר (yohr, “year”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish år (“year”), Faroese and Icelandic ár (“year”), Gothic 𐌾𐌴𐍂 (jēr, “year”).

11 senses
  1. 1A period of time akin to the time taken for the Earth to…
  2. 2The time taken for the Earth to return to the same…
  3. 3The time taken for the Earth to orbit the Sun with…
  4. 4The length of twelve lunations; the time taken for any…
  5. 5The length of a year as marked by a calendar, 365 or 366…
  6. 6The mean length of a calendar year in the Julian…
  7. 7An orbital period: the period of one revolution in any…
  8. 8A period between set dates that mark a year, such as…
  9. 9A scheduled part of a calendar year spent in a specific activity.
  10. 10A level or grade in school or college.
  11. 11The proportion of a creature's lifespan equivalent to…
1

A period of time akin to the time taken for the Earth to undergo a full cycle of seasons.

  • we moved to this town a year ago; I quit smoking exactly one year ago
2

The time taken for the Earth to return to the same position along the ecliptic, completing a full cycle of seasons; a tropical year or solar year.

3

The time taken for the Earth to orbit the Sun with respect to the fixed stars; a sidereal year.

4

The length of twelve lunations; the time taken for any moon phase to happen twelve times; a lunar year.

5

The length of a year as marked by a calendar, 365 or 366 days in the Gregorian calendar; a calendar year.

6

The mean length of a calendar year in the Julian calendar, that is, 365.25 solar days; a Julian year.

7

Broadly An orbital period: the period of one revolution in any particular orbit: The time it takes for any astronomical object (such as a planet, dwarf planet, small Solar System body, or comet) in direct orbit around a star (such as the Sun) to make one revolution around the star.

  • Mars goes around the sun once in a Martian year, or 1.88 Earth years.
  • Shepard: What can you tell me about the Citadel Council? Avina: Originally, the Council consisted of representatives from the asari and salarians, the two dominant species in Citadel space. Roughly 1,304 galactic standard years ago, turians were invited to join the Council in recognition of the role they played during the Krogan Rebellion.2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Citdael:
8

A period between set dates that mark a year, such as from January 1 to December 31 by the Gregorian calendar, from Tishri 1 to Elul 29 by the Jewish calendar, and from Muharram 1 to Dhu al-Hijjah 29 or 30 by the Islamic calendar.

  • A normal year has 365 full days, but there are 366 days in a leap year.
  • I was born in the year 1950.
3 more examples
  • This Chinese year is the year of the Ox.
  • Dotcom mania was slow in coming to higher education, but now it has the venerable industry firmly in its grip. Since the launch early last year of Udacity and Coursera, two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations.2013 July 20, “The attack of the MOOCs”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845, archived from the original on 17 Jul 2020:
  • Construction of the world’s tallest unoccupied skyscraper may resume as early as next week, almost 10 years after work ground to a halt, according to Chinese state media.2025 April 24, Oscar Holland, “Construction of world’s tallest abandoned skyscraper to resume after a decade”, in CNN:
9

A scheduled part of a calendar year spent in a specific activity.

  • During this school year I have to get up at 6:30 to catch the bus.
10

A level or grade in school or college.

  • Every second-year student must select an area of specialization.
  • The exams in year 12 at high school are the most difficult.
1 more example
  • I'm the oldest student in my year because I've repeated twice.
11

The proportion of a creature's lifespan equivalent to one year of an average human lifespan (see also dog year).

  • Geneticists have created baker's yeast that can live to 800 in yeast years.
Synonyms
30 termssolar year, equinoctial year, sun, Theban year, twelvemonth, annum, anomalistic year, galactic year, Gaussian year, Great Year, lunar year, Platonic year, sidereal year, Sothic year, tropical year, calendar year, civil year, legal year, winter (one of an especially great number of years,, accounting year, base year, dog year, financial year, fiscal year, liturgical year, quality-adjusted life year, school year, tax year, orb, year
Derived terms
139 terms100-year flood, 10-year series, 4-plus-billion-year, abundant year, academic year, after-years, all-year-round, astronomical year, autumn years, a year and a day, banner year, be a hundred years too early, beyond one's years, big year, bissextile year, blunder years, century year, Christian year, Christmas comes but once a year, common year, cosmic year, current year, day-year principle, disability adjusted life year, disability-adjusted life year, dollar-a-year man, donkey's years, dragon year, final year project, first-year, first year, four score and seven years ago, four score seven years ago, gigawatt-year, gigayear, golden years, half-year, human year, hundred-year egg, hundred-year storm, I am twenty years old, I'm twenty years old, it's been 84 years, Jesus year, kilowatt-year, leap year, light-year, light year, lunisolar year, man-year, mast year, megalight-year, megawatt-year, megayear, microwatt-year, milliwatt-year, multi-year, multiyear, never in a million years, new year, next year, non-leap year, not in a million years, off year, old for one's years, one-hundred-year storm, one-year-old, on in years, pack year, pack-year, person-year, promised 3, 000 years ago, rain year, regnal year, roll back the years, ruin of the year, run year, sabbatical year, salad year, seventeen-year locust, seven-year apple, seven-year itch, seven-year melon, seven-year vine, sunset years, ten-year series, terawatt-year, term of years, term of years absolute, term of years determinable, this year, thousand-year egg, thousand-year-old egg, time of the yearfour more years, time of year, today years old, to-year, transition year, turn of the year, twilight years, two-year, water year, watt-year, who was your servant last year, wise beyond one's years, year 2000 problem, year 2038 problem, year-around, year bearer, year-bird, year-book, yearbook, year by year, year dot, year-end, year-group, yearhundred, yearling, year-long, yearly, year mark, year mind, year-old, year-on-year, year out, year-over-year, year-round, year-rounder, year-round school, years-long, year's mind, years young, yearthousand, year to date, year-to-date, year-to-year, yesteryear, yester-year
Related terms
81 termscalendar, month, week, day, 1⁄4-year, triannual, biannual, semiannual, twice-yearly, quasi-annual, yearly, annual, per annum, biennium, biennial, triennium, triennial, trieterical, quadrennium, quadrennial, quinquennium, quinquenniad, quintennium, quinquennial, quintennial, sexennium, sexennial, septennium, septennial, septennary, septenniad, septenary, septenarian, septennian, septennual, octennium, octaeteris, octennial, octaeteric, novennium, novennial, enneaeteric, enneatic, decade, decennium, decadal, decennial, septendecennial, enneadecaeteris, tender years doctrine, vicennium, vicennial, tricennium, tricennial, century, yearhundred, centennial, centenary, centuried, bicentennial, bicentenary, tricentennial, tricentenary tercentennial, tercentenary, millennium, kiloyear, yearthousand, millennial, termillenary, decamillennium, centimillennium, megayear, mega-annum, millionennium, gigayear, gigannum, anomalistic year, Gaussian year, lunar year, sidereal year, Sothic year
Hypernyms
25 termsbiennium (2 years), triennium, quadrennium, olympiad, quinquennium, pentad, sexennium, septennium, octaeteris, octennium, novennium, decennium, decade, centennium, century (100), quincentennium (500), kiloyear, millennium (1000), decamillennium (10,000), centimillennium (100,000), millionennium, megayear (1,000,000), gigayear (1,000,000,000), eon, period
Hyponyms
43 termsbase year, birthyear, calendar year, civil year, dog year, donkey's years, financial year, fiscal year, fourth year, gap year, golden years, holy year, last year, leap year, legal year, liturgical year, lunar year, mid-year, midyear, prophetical year, prophetic year, run of year, school year, second year, sidereal year, solar year, Sothic year, sunset years, tax year, third year, twilight years, year of confusion, year of grace, year of our Lord, year of our Lord Jesus Christ, year zero, yesteryear, academic year, astronomical year, common year, equinoctial year, human year, tropical year
Holonyms
42 termsCommon, decade, century, millennium, Rare, generation, Great Year, Sothic period, Specific multiples, biennium, triennium, quadrennium, luster, lustrum, quinennium, quinquennium, quinquenniad, quintennium, sexennium, septennium, septenniad, octennium, novennium, decennium, septendecennium, vicennium, tricennium, quincennium, centennium, yearhundred, bicentennium, tricentennium, quincentennium, kiloyear, yearthousand, termillennium, trimillennium, megayear, mega-annum, gigayear, gigannum, terrennium
Meronyms
season, quarter, month, week, day, spring, summer, autumn, winter, equinox, solstice, sunstead, synodic month, lunation, lunar month

year

noun
1

Pronunciation spelling Pronunciation spelling of here.

2

Pronunciation spelling Pronunciation spelling of hear.

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.