year

noun11

1. •
   a period of about 365 days, in which all four seasons come and go once

   • we moved to this town a year ago; I quit smoking exactly one year ago
2. •
   The length of a year as marked by a calendar, 365 or 366 days in the Gregorian calendar; a calendar year.
3. •
   The mean length of a calendar year in the Julian calendar, that is, 365.25 solar days; a Julian year.
4. •
   A period between set dates that mark a year, such as from January 1 to December 31 by the Gregorian calendar, from Tishri 1 to Elul 29 by the Jewish calendar, and from Muharram 1 to Dhu al-Hijjah 29 or 30 by the Islamic calendar.

   • A normal year has 365 full days, but there are 366 days in a leap year.
   • I was born in the year 1950.
5. •
   A scheduled part of a calendar year spent in a specific activity.

   • During this school year I have to get up at 6:30 to catch the bus.
6. •
   A level or grade in school or college.

   • Every second-year student must select an area of specialization.
   • The exams in year 12 at high school are the most difficult.
7. •
   The time taken for the Earth to return to the same position along the ecliptic, completing a full cycle of seasons; a tropical year or solar year.
8. •
   The time taken for the Earth to orbit the Sun with respect to the fixed stars; a sidereal year.
9. •
   An orbital period: the period of one revolution in any particular orbit: The time it takes for any astronomical object (such as a planet, dwarf planet, small Solar System body, or comet) in direct orbit around a star (such as the Sun) to make one revolution around the star.

   • Mars goes around the sun once in a Martian year, or 1.88 Earth years.
10. •
    The length of twelve lunations; the time taken for any moon phase to happen twelve times; a lunar year.
11. •
    The proportion of a creature's lifespan equivalent to one year of an average human lifespan (see also dog year).

    • Geneticists have created baker's yeast that can live to 800 in yeast years.