Definition

1. Noun:
   • A period of 365 days (or 366 in a leap year): The basic unit of time in the Gregorian calendar, representing the approximate time it takes for the Earth to orbit the Sun once.
   • A period of time associated with a specific activity or institution: A division of time used for academic, financial, or administrative purposes.
   • A group of students who start and finish a course of study together: A cohort of students in the same academic stage.
   • Age or time of life: Used to indicate how old someone or something is.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:
  • The project will take a year to complete.
  • The fiscal year ends in March.
  • She was in the same year as me at university.
  • He is six years old.

Advanced Usage

• "Year in, year out": Continuously, every year without change.
  • He works in the same office, year in, year out.
• "To be getting on in years": To be becoming old.
  • My grandfather is getting on in years but is still very active.
• "The year dot" (informal, chiefly British): A very long time ago.
  • That building has been there since the year dot.

Variants and Related Words

• Yearly (adj/adv): Happening once a year or every year.
  • We have a yearly meeting.
• Year-long (adj): Lasting for a year.
  • It was a year-long project.
• Light-year (n): A unit of astronomical distance.
  • The star is many light-years away.

Synonyms

• Twelvemonth (archaic/literary): A period of twelve months.
• Anniversary: The date on which an event took place in a previous year.

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

• "To ring in the new year": To celebrate the beginning of a new year.
  • We gathered to ring in the new year.
• "To see the year out": To be present until the end of the year.
  • He plans to see the year out in his current job.

Related Idioms

• "Donkey's years": A very long time.
  • I haven't seen her in donkey's years.
• "To take years off someone": To make someone look or feel much younger.
  • The vacation really took years off her.
• "To put years on someone": To make someone look or feel much older, often due to stress or worry.
  • That ordeal put years on him.

Noun

1. a body of students who graduate together
   • the class of '97
   • she was in my year at Hoehandle High
2. 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 Martian year takes 687 of our days
3. a period of time occupying a regular part of a calendar year that is used for some particular activity
   • a school year
4. a period of time containing 365 (or 366) days
   • she is 4 years old
   • in the year 1920