year
Full seasonal cycle
English gets its smallest time divisions—second, minute, and hour—from French and Latin, but the bigger chunks—day, month, and year—have been around since Old English and have cognates in Germanic languages.
Of these six time divisions, year is the most frequently used, and like day it represents an observable phenomenon: the 365¼ days that it takes for the earth to circuit the sun.
For the first 500 or so years that people used the word year they knew it only as the complete cycle of seasons.
When Copernicus posited the idea of the earth orbiting the sun, the word already in use easily adapted to the more technical definition.
Ten-year span
- centuryHundred-year span
- millenniumSpan of thousand years
- epochDistinct historical period
- eraDistinct historical period
generation · eon · age · period · annum · per annum · fiscal · calendar
Year's opening month
- FebruarySecond month, often shortest
- MarchYear's third month
- AprilYear's fourth month
- MayYear's fifth month
June · July · August · September · October · November · December · months
Happening repeatedly over time
- periodicOccurring at intervals
- perennialRecurring each year
- regularOccurring at fixed intervals
- cyclicalRepeating in rounds
rotation · cycle · birthday · commemoration · observance · renewal · review · report
Recoiling metal spiral
- summerYear's warmest season
- autumnPost-summer cooling period
- winterYear's coldest quarter
- equinoxSun crosses celestial midline
solstice · harvest · bloom · frost · thaw · monsoon · dry season · rainy season
Completing academic requirements formally
- weddingMarriage rite and feast
- retirementLeaving the workforce permanently
- promotionRank increase or publicity
- centennialHundred-year anniversary
jubilee · bicentennial · sesquicentennial · inauguration · founding · landmark · turning point · memorable
decade
Ten-year span
- centuryHundred-year span
- millenniumSpan of thousand years
- epochDistinct historical period
era · generation · eon · age · period · annum · per annum · fiscal · calendar
January
Year's opening month
May · June · July · August · September · October · November · December · months · weeks
recurring
Happening repeatedly over time
cyclical · rotation · cycle · birthday · commemoration · observance · renewal · review · report · subscription
spring
Recoiling metal spiral
equinox · solstice · harvest · bloom · frost · thaw · monsoon · dry season · rainy season · planting
months
Year's twelve parts
365 · 366 · span · length · passage · course · elapsed · long · short · entire
graduation
Completing academic requirements formally
- weddingMarriage rite and feast
- retirementLeaving the workforce permanently
- promotionRank increase or publicity
centennial · jubilee · bicentennial · sesquicentennial · inauguration · founding · landmark · turning point · memorable · significant
harvest
Gathering mature crops
terroir · bottled · aged · cellared · reserve · varietal · cuvée · château · sommelier · oenology
infancy
Earliest period of life
- childhoodLife's earliest phase
- adolescenceTeenage developmental stage
- teenageOf youth, 13-19
twenties · thirties · forties · fifties · sixties · seventies · adulthood · elderly · senescence · coming-of-age
yearmoment
Brief period of time
instant · second · millisecond · minute · nanosecond
yeareternity
Boundless temporal existence
forever · infinity · timelessness · perpetuity · everlasting
years, yearly, yearn, yearbook, yearling, year-round, midyear, yesteryear, yearlong