year

A1 Topic:Time

US /jɪɹ/ UK /jɪə/ See IPA manual

Freq #356

Meanings

1

noun
A period of 365 days, or twelve months.

We moved to this town a year ago.
2

noun
The period from January 1 to December 31.

A normal year has 365 days, but a leap year has 366.
3

noun
A period of the calendar set aside for a particular activity.

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

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a period of 365 days, or... twelvemonth

2 noun · the period from january 1... calendar year

More orb

Word family

Forms years

Derived forms after-yearsall-year-roundfirst-yeargigawatt-yeargigayearhalf-yearkilowatt-yearlight-yearman-yearmegalight-yearmegawatt-yearmegayear

Related forms annual biannual bicentenary bicentennial biennialbienniumcalendar centenary centennialcentimillenniumcenturied century

Appears in

Phrases (8)

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school year
the annual period during which schools are in session and teaching takes place

Adjective + noun
spend a year
to pass a year doing something or being somewhere

Verb + noun
take a year
to require a year of time for something to be completed

Verb + noun
academic year
the annual period of teaching and study at a university or college

Adjective + noun
leap year
a year with 366 days, including February 29, occurring every four years

Adjective + noun
waste a year
to spend a year without achieving anything productive

Verb + noun

Proverbs (5)

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Simplified etymology

Year is an Old English word whose ancient root is shared with Greek hōra, meaning “season” or “time.” The term leap year is recorded from the 14th century and probably refers to feast days after February falling two weekdays later than in the previous year, rather than the usual one, as though they had “leaped” a day.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(H)yeh₁-der.? Proto-Indo-European *yóh₁r̥der. Proto-Germanic *jērą Proto-West Germanic *jār Old English ġēar Middle English yeer English year 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…

*(H)yeh₁- Proto-Indo-European yeer Middle English ġēar Old English *jār Proto-West Germanic *jērą Proto-Germanic *yóh₁r̥ Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Time

External links

# year

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /jɪɹ/
**IPA (UK):** /jɪə/
**Frequency rank:** 356

## Meanings
1. A period of 365 days, or twelve months.
2. The period from January 1 to December 31.
3. A period of the calendar set aside for a particular activity.

## Examples
- We moved to this town a year ago.
- A normal year has 365 days, but a leap year has 366.
- During this school year I have to get up at 6:30 to catch the bus.

## Synonyms
- orb
- twelvemonth

## Derived Forms
- after-years
- all-year-round
- first-year
- gigawatt-year
- gigayear
- half-year
- kilowatt-year
- light-year
- man-year
- megalight-year
- megawatt-year
- megayear

## Related Forms
- annual
- biannual
- bicentenary
- bicentennial
- biennial
- biennium
- calendar
- centenary
- centennial
- centimillennium
- centuried
- century

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *(H)yeh₁-
- Root: yeer
- Root: ġēar
- Root: *jār
- Root: *jērą
- Root: *yóh₁r̥

## Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(H)yeh₁-der.? Proto-Indo-European *yóh₁r̥der. Proto-Germanic *jērą Proto-West Germanic *jār Old English ġēar Middle English yeer English year 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…

## AI Etymology
Year: The etymological chain runs Proto-Indo-European *(H)yeh₁- -> Proto-Indo-European *yóh₁r̥ -> Proto-Germanic *jērą -> Proto-West Germanic *jār -> Old English ġēar -> Middle English yeer -> English year. 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. Important historical forms include Proto-Indo-European *(H)yeh₁-, Middle English yeer, Old English ġēar, Proto-West Germanic *jār, Proto-Germanic *jērą, and Proto-Indo-European *yóh₁r̥. In present-day use, it can mean a period of 365 days, or twelve months, or the period from January 1 to December 31.

## Topics
- Time

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