year
Americannoun
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a period of 365 or 366 days, in the Gregorian calendar, divided into 12 calendar months, now reckoned as beginning Jan. 1 and ending Dec. 31 calendar year, or civil year.
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a period of approximately the same length in other calendars.
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a space of 12 calendar months calculated from any point.
This should have been finished a year ago.
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Astronomy.
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Also called lunar year. a division of time equal to 12 lunar months.
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the time in which any planet completes a revolution round the sun.
the Martian year.
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a full round of the seasons.
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a period out of every 12 months, devoted to a certain pursuit, activity, or the like.
the academic year.
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years,
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a group of students entering school or college, graduating, or expecting to graduate in the same year; class.
idioms
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year in and year out, regularly through the years; continually: Also year in, year out.
Year in and year out they went to Florida for the winter.
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a year and a day, a period specified as the limit of time in various legal matters, as in determining a right or a liability, to allow for a full year by any way of counting.
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from the year one, for a very long time; as long as anyone remembers.
He's been with the company from the year one.
noun
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Also called: civil year. the period of time, the calendar year , containing 365 days or in a leap year 366 days. It is based on the Gregorian calendar, being divided into 12 calendar months, and is reckoned from January 1 to December 31
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a period of twelve months from any specified date, such as one based on the four seasons
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a specific period of time, usually occupying a definite part or parts of a twelve-month period, used for some particular activity
a school year
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Also called: astronomical year. tropical year. the period of time, the solar year , during which the earth makes one revolution around the sun, measured between two successive vernal equinoxes: equal to 365.242 19 days
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the period of time, the sidereal year , during which the earth makes one revolution around the sun, measured between two successive conjunctions of a particular distant star: equal to 365.256 36 days
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the period of time, the lunar year , containing 12 lunar months and equal to 354.3671 days
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the period of time taken by a specified planet to complete one revolution around the sun
the Martian year
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(plural) age, esp old age
a man of his years should be more careful
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(plural) time
in years to come
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a group of pupils or students, who are taught or study together, divided into classes at school
they are the best year we've ever had for history
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informal as long ago as can be remembered
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English law a period fixed by law to ensure the completion of a full year. It is applied for certain purposes, such as to determine the time within which wrecks must be claimed
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regularly or monotonously, over a long period
Usage
In writing spans of years, it is important to choose a style that avoids ambiguity. The practice adopted in this dictionary is, in four-figure dates, to specify the last two digits of the second date if it falls within the same century as the first: 1801–08; 1850–51; 1899–1901 . In writing three-figure bc dates, it is advisable to give both dates in full: 159–156 bc , not 159–56 bc unless of course the span referred to consists of 103 years rather than three years. It is also advisable to specify bc or ad in years under 1000 unless the context makes this self-evident
Other Word Forms
- multiyear adjective
Etymology
Origin of year
First recorded before 900; Middle English yeer, Old English gēar; cognate with Dutch jaar, German Jahr, Old Norse ār, Gothic jēr, Greek hôros “year,” hṓrā “season, part of a day, hour”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Dozens of Europeans, North Americans and other Western citizens have been arrested in the last few years in similar circumstances.
From Barron's
But this "discussion has been going on for years and years and it has never meant that Greenland was on its way out the door", she stressed.
From Barron's
Lake Balaton in the west of the country is currently frozen -- a relatively rare phenomenon seen about once every ten to fifteen years.
From Barron's
Air traffic controllers, who have clashed with YPA for years over staff and infrastructure shortages, insist that the January 4 incident was a debacle waiting to happen.
From Barron's
"This study provides scientific arguments for the debate about social networks in recent years: it is based on 1,000 studies," the expert panel's head Olivia Roth-Delgado told a press conference.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
