year

noun

• 1the time taken by the earth to make one revolution around the sun.

The length of the year depends on the manner of calculation. For ordinary purposes the important period is the tropical year (also called astronomical year, equinoctial year, or solar year) which is the time between successive spring or autumn equinoxes, or winter or summer solstices, roughly 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds in length. This period thus marks the regular cycle of the seasons. See also sidereal year, anomalistic year

• 2 (also calendar year or civil year) the period of 365 days (or 366 days in leap years) starting from the first of January, used for reckoning time in ordinary circumstances.
• a period of twelve months measured from a point other than 1 January:it’s almost a year since his heart attack
• [with adjective] a year regarded in terms of the quality of something produced:single-vineyard wine of a good year
• a period similar to a year used for reckoning time according to other calendars:the Muslim year

• 3 (one's years) one’s age or time of life:she had a composure well beyond her years

• 4 (years) informal a very long time; ages:it’s going to take years to put that right

• 5a set of students grouped together as being of roughly similar ages, mostly entering a school or college in the same academic year:most of the girls in my year were leaving at the end of the term