year
pronunciation
How to pronounce year in British English:
UK [jɪə(r)]
How to pronounce year in American English:
US [jɪr]
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- Noun:
- a period of time containing 365 (or 366) days
- a period of time occupying a regular part of a calendar year that is used for some particular activity
- the period of time that it takes for a planet (as, e.g., Earth or Mars) to make a complete revolution around the sun
- a body of students who graduate together
Word Origin
- year
- year: [OE] Year is part of a widespread European family of ‘time’-words that goes back ultimately to Indo-European *jēr-, *jōr-. This also produced Greek hórā ‘season’ (ultimate source of English hour), Czech jaro ‘spring’, and Avestan (the ancient Persian sacred language) yāre ‘year’. From it was descended prehistoric Germanic *jǣram, which has evolved into German jahr, Dutch jaar, Swedish år, Dutch aar, and English year. It has been speculated that the Indo-European forms themselves may have been derived from a base meaning ‘go’, in which case the etymological notion underlying the word would be of time proceeding.=> hour
- year (n.)
- Old English gear (West Saxon), ger (Anglian) "year," from Proto-Germanic *jeram "year" (cognates: Old Saxon, Old High German jar, Old Norse ar, Danish aar, Old Frisian ger, Dutch jaar, German Jahr, Gothic jer "year"), from PIE *yer-o-, from root *yer- "year, season" (cognates: Avestan yare (nominative singular) "year;" Greek hora "year, season, any part of a year," also "any part of a day, hour;" Old Church Slavonic jaru, Bohemian jaro "spring;" Latin hornus "of this year;" Old Persian dušiyaram "famine," literally "bad year"). Probably originally "that which makes [a complete cycle]," and from verbal root *ei- meaning "to do, make."
Example
- 1. I have had small projects for the past year .
- 2. Forecasts for growth in the current year are anaemic .
- 3. A year later we married .
- 4. The economy is in its fifth year of recession .
- 5. She was a year younger but much more sexually experienced .