Year

Year, yēr, n. a period of time determined by the revolution of the earth in its orbit, and embracing the four seasons, popularly a period beginning with 1st January and ending with 31st December, consisting of 365 days (excepting every fourth year, called 'bissextile' or 'leap-year,' in which one day is added to February, making the number 366)—the Calendar, Civil, or Legal year: a space of twelve calendar months: (pl.) period of life, esp. age or old age.—ns. Year′-book, a book published annually, containing reports of judicial cases, or of discoveries, events, &c.; Year′ling, an animal a year old.—adj. a year old.—adjs. Year′long, lasting a year; Year′ly, happening every year: lasting a year.—adv. once a year: from year to year.—Year of Grace, or of our Lord, date of the Christian era.—Anomalistic year (see Anomaly); Astronomical year, the interval between one vernal equinox and the next, or one complete mean apparent circuit of the ecliptic by the sun, or mean motion through 360° of longitude—365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 49.7 seconds—called also the Equinoctial, Solar, or Tropical year; Canicular year—the ancient Egyptian—counted from one heliacal rising of Sirius to the next—(the Canicular Cycle was the cycle of 1461 years of 365 days each, or 1460 Julian years, also called the Sothiac period); Ecclesiastical year, the year as arranged in the ecclesiastical calendar, with saints' days, festivals, &c.; Embolismic year, a year of thirteen lunar months or 384 days, occurring in a lunisolar calendar like that of the Jews; Hebrew year, a lunisolar year, of 12 or 13 months of 29 or 30 days—in every cycle of nineteen years the 3d, 6th, 8th, 11th, 14th, 17th, and 19th having thirteen months instead of twelve; Julian year, a period of 365¼ days, thus causing an annual error of about 11 minutes—corrected by dropping 10 days in 1582 under Pope Gregory XIII.—not adopted in England till 3d September 1752, which became September 14 (see Style); Legal year, the year by which dates were reckoned, which till 1752 began in England on 25th March, that date being originally chosen by Dionysius Exiguus as being the Annunciation—exactly nine months before Christmas. In Scotland the year began on 1st January since 1600.—The most common New Year's Days were these four—(a) 25th December; (b) 25th March; (c) Easter; (d) 1st January. Thus England used both the first and second from the 6th century to 1066; the fourth till 1155; then the second till the day after 31st December 1751, which was called 1st January 1752. Scotland used the second till 1599, when the day after 31st December 1599 was called 1st January 1600. France under Charlemagne used the first, and afterwards also the third and second till 1563; Lunar year, a period of twelve lunar months or 354 days, Platonic year, a cycle of years at the end of which the heavenly bodies are in the same place as at the Creation—also Great, or Perfect, year; Sabbatic, -al, year (see Sabbath); Sidereal year, the period required by the sun to move from a given star to the same star again—affected by Nutation only, one of the most invariable quantities which nature affords us, having a mean value of 365 days, 6 hours, 9 minutes, 9.6 seconds.—In years, advanced in age. [A.S. geár, gér; Ger. jahr, Ice. ár, Gr. hōra, season.]