Year

Pronunciation

• RP IPA: /jɪə̯/, /jɜː/
• GenAm enPR: yîr, IPA: /jɪɹ/
• Rhymes: -ɪə(r)
• Rhymes: -ɜː(r) (some regions only)

Alternative forms

• yeer obsolete
• yeere obsolete

Origin

From Middle English yeer, yere, from Old English ġēr, ġēar ("year"), from Proto-Germanic *jērą ("year"), from Proto-Indo-European *yōro-, *yeh₁ro- ("year, spring"), *yeh₁r-. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Jier ("year"), West Frisian jier ("year"), Dutch jaar ("year"), German Jahr ("year"), Swedish år ("year"), Icelandic ári ("year"), Serbo-Croatian jār ("spring"), Ancient Greek ὥρα (hōra, "year, season"), Avestan 𐬫𐬁𐬭𐬆 ("year") and perhaps Albanian herë ("time").

Noun

1. The time it takes the Earth to complete one revolution of the Sun (between 365.24 and 365.26 days depending on the point of reference).
   we moved to this town a year ago;  I quit smoking exactly one year ago
2. (by extension) The time it takes for any planetary body to make one revolution around another body.
   Mars goes around the sun once in a Martian year, or 1.88 Earth years.
3. A period between set dates that mark a year, from January 1 to December 31 by the Gregorian calendar.
• 2013-07-20, The attack of the MOOCs, 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.
4. A normal year has 365 full days, but there are 366 days in a leap year.
   I was born in the year 1950.
   This Chinese year is the year of the Rooster.
5. 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.
6. (sciences) A Julian year, exactly 365.25 days, represented by "a".
7. 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.
8. 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

• (one revolution of the Sun by the Earth) twelvemonth
• (time to make one revolution by any body) anomalistic year, Gaussian year, sidereal year, tropical year
• (period between set dates) calendar year, civil year, legal year

Derived terms

Anagrams

• aery
• ayre, Ayre
• yare