[year] n [ME yere, fr. OE gear; akin to OHG jar year, Gk horos year, hora season, hour] (bef. 12c) 1 a: the period of about 365 1/4 solar days required for one revolution of the earth around the sun b: the time required for the apparent sun to return to an arbitrary fixed or moving reference point in the sky c: the time in which a planet completes a revolution about the sun "a ~ of Jupiter"
2. a: a cycle in the Gregorian calendar of 365 or 366 days divided into 12 months beginning with January and ending with December b: a period of time equal to one year of the Gregorian calendar but beginning at a different time
3: a calendar year specified usu. by a number "died in the ~ 1900"
4. pl: a time or era having a special significance "their glory ~s"
5. a: 12 months that constitute a measure of age or duration "her 21st ~"--often used in combination "a year-old child" b pl: age "an adult in ~s but a child in understanding"; also: the final stage of the normal life span
6: a period of time (as the usu. nine-month period in which a school is in session) other than a calendar year