YEAR

noun Etymology: Middle English yere, from Old English gēar; akin to Old High German jār ~, Greek hōros ~, hōra season, hour Date: before 12th century 1. the period of about 365 1 / 4 solar days required for one revolution of the earth around the sun, the time required for the apparent sun to return to an arbitrary fixed or moving reference point in the sky, the time in which a planet completes a revolution about the sun , 2. a cycle in the Gregorian calendar of 365 or 366 days divided into 12 months beginning with January and ending with December, a period of time equal to one ~ of the Gregorian calendar but beginning at a different time, a calendar ~ specified usually by a number , a time or era having a special significance , 5. 12 months that constitute a measure of age or duration , age , a period of time (as the usually 9-month period in which a school is in session) other than a calendar ~