year. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

year

PRONUNCIATION:	yîr
NOUN:	1a. The period of time during which Earth completes a single revolution around the sun, consisting of 365 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes, and 12 seconds of mean solar time. In the Gregorian calendar the year begins on January 1 and ends on December 31 and is divided into 12 months, 52 weeks, and 365 or 366 days. Also called calendar year. b. A period approximately equal to a year in other calendars. c. A period of approximately the duration of a calendar year: We were married a year ago. 2. A sidereal year. 3. A solar year. 4. A period equal to the calendar year but beginning on a different date: a tax-reckoning year; a farming year. 5. A specific period of time, usually shorter than 12 months, devoted to a special activity: the academic year. 6. years Age, especially old age: I'm feeling my years. 7. years An indefinitely long period of time: it's been years since we saw her.
ETYMOLOGY:	Middle English yere, from Old English gar. See yr- in Appendix I.


The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.