year  (yîr)
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n.1. Any of various calendrical units based on the time the earth takes to revolve once around the sun, especially: a. In the Gregorian calendar, a period beginning on January 1 and ending on December 31, consisting of 365 or 366 days in 12 months. Also called calendar year. b. A period of 365 or 366 days used as the basis for another calendar such as the Julian calendar. c. A period of 12 or 13 lunar months in a lunisolar calendar such as the Jewish calendar. d. A period of 12 lunar months in a lunar calendar such as the Islamic calendar. 2. A sidereal year. 3. A solar year. 4. A period of about a year: We were married a year ago. 5. A period equal to the calendar year but beginning on a different date: a tax-reckoning year; a farming year. 6. An annually recurring period devoted to a special activity: the academic year. 7. years Age, especially old age: I'm feeling my years. 8. years An indefinitely long period of time: it's been years since we saw her.
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2020 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices
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