Year in Different Languages
Discover 'Year' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Year
Afrikaans jaar | ||
Albanian viti | ||
Amharic አመት | ||
Arabic عام | ||
Armenian տարի | ||
Assamese বছৰ | ||
Aymara mara | ||
Azerbaijani il | ||
Bambara san | ||
Basque urtea | ||
Belarusian год | ||
Bengali বছর | ||
Bhojpuri बरिस | ||
Bosnian godine | ||
Bulgarian година | ||
Catalan curs | ||
Cebuano tuig | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 年 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 年 | ||
Corsican annu | ||
Croatian godina | ||
Czech rok | ||
Danish år | ||
Dhivehi އަހަރު | ||
Dogri ब'रा | ||
Dutch jaar | ||
English year | ||
Esperanto jaro | ||
Estonian aasta | ||
Ewe ƒe | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) taon | ||
Finnish vuosi | ||
French an | ||
Frisian jier | ||
Galician ano | ||
Georgian წელი | ||
German jahr | ||
Greek έτος | ||
Guarani ary | ||
Gujarati વર્ષ | ||
Haitian Creole ane | ||
Hausa shekara | ||
Hawaiian makahiki | ||
Hebrew שָׁנָה | ||
Hindi साल | ||
Hmong xyoo | ||
Hungarian év | ||
Icelandic ári | ||
Igbo afọ | ||
Ilocano tawen | ||
Indonesian tahun | ||
Irish bhliain | ||
Italian anno | ||
Japanese 年 | ||
Javanese taun | ||
Kannada ವರ್ಷ | ||
Kazakh жыл | ||
Khmer ឆ្នាំ | ||
Kinyarwanda umwaka | ||
Konkani वर्स | ||
Korean 년 | ||
Krio ia | ||
Kurdish sal | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) ساڵ | ||
Kyrgyz жыл | ||
Lao ປີ | ||
Latin annos singulos | ||
Latvian gadā | ||
Lingala mbula | ||
Lithuanian metus | ||
Luganda omwaka | ||
Luxembourgish joer | ||
Macedonian година | ||
Maithili साल | ||
Malagasy taom- | ||
Malay tahun | ||
Malayalam വർഷം | ||
Maltese sena | ||
Maori tau | ||
Marathi वर्ष | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯆꯍꯤ | ||
Mizo kum | ||
Mongolian жил | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) နှစ် | ||
Nepali बर्ष | ||
Norwegian år | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) chaka | ||
Odia (Oriya) ବର୍ଷ | ||
Oromo waggaa | ||
Pashto کال | ||
Persian سال | ||
Polish rok | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) ano | ||
Punjabi ਸਾਲ | ||
Quechua wata | ||
Romanian an | ||
Russian год | ||
Samoan tausaga | ||
Sanskrit वर्ष | ||
Scots Gaelic bliadhna | ||
Sepedi ngwaga | ||
Serbian године | ||
Sesotho selemo | ||
Shona gore | ||
Sindhi سال | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) වර්ෂය | ||
Slovak rok | ||
Slovenian leto | ||
Somali sanadka | ||
Spanish año | ||
Sundanese taun | ||
Swahili mwaka | ||
Swedish år | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) taon | ||
Tajik сол | ||
Tamil ஆண்டு | ||
Tatar ел | ||
Telugu సంవత్సరం | ||
Thai ปี | ||
Tigrinya ዓመት | ||
Tsonga lembe | ||
Turkish yıl | ||
Turkmen ýyl | ||
Twi (Akan) afe | ||
Ukrainian рік | ||
Urdu سال | ||
Uyghur يىل | ||
Uzbek yil | ||
Vietnamese năm | ||
Welsh flwyddyn | ||
Xhosa unyaka | ||
Yiddish יאָר | ||
Yoruba odun | ||
Zulu unyaka |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The Afrikaans word 'jaar' is derived from the Dutch word 'jaar' and is also related to the English word 'year'. |
| Albanian | The Albanian word "viti" is derived from the Latin word "vita" meaning "life" and also has the connotation of a "season". |
| Amharic | The word "አመት" ("year") in Amharic also denotes a 12-month agricultural season. |
| Arabic | The Arabic word "عام" can also mean "universal", "general" or "public." |
| Azerbaijani | In Azerbaijani, |
| Basque | The word "urtea" is related to "ur" (water) in Basque, suggesting the importance of the water cycle in Basque culture. |
| Belarusian | "Год" (year) possibly derives from the Old English "gear", which meant "revolving, turning," and is related to the Old Slavic *godъ, meaning "time". |
| Bengali | The Bengali word "বছর" (year) is derived from the Sanskrit word "वर्ष" (vṛṣa), which means "rain" or "rainy season." |
| Bosnian | The root of the word 'godine' is 'god', which also means 'fit', referring to the period when the nature is in its most fertile and productive phase. |
| Bulgarian | The Bulgarian word "година" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "godъ" and can also mean "disaster" or "calamity". |
| Catalan | The word "curs" in Catalan is derived from the Latin word "cursus", meaning "course" or "run", and also refers to an academic year or a specific class. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 年 can also mean 'good harvest' or refer to annual events, such as festivals or celebrations. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 年 (year) is composed of禾 (grain) and 人 (person), which represents the harvest (harvesting the crops), i.e. the end of a cycle, hence a "year". |
| Corsican | The word "annu" in Corsican derives from the Latin for "ring" that, by extension, has come to indicate the annual cycle (in particular one in which crops are farmed). |
| Croatian | The word 'godina' shares its root with the word 'god' meaning 'hour' or 'time'. |
| Czech | Czech word "rok" comes from Proto-Slavic year measure, related to the German "reckon" |
| Danish | The word "år" also means "rowing" and comes from the Indo-European root "er- " meaning "to move". |
| Dutch | The word "jaar" is derived from the Proto-Germanic word "*jēraz," meaning "season," and is related to the English word "year" and the German word "Jahr." |
| Esperanto | Esperanto's "jaro" may also refer to a "harvest" or a "large amount." |
| Estonian | Derived from a cognate of Proto-Finnic *ajasta, meaning "time". |
| Finnish | The word "vuosi" is derived from the Proto-Finno-Ugric root *wode, meaning "time" or "season". |
| French | The French word "an" comes from the Latin word "annus", which also means "year". |
| Frisian | The Frisian word "jier" derives from the Proto-Germanic "*jērą" and may also refer to the annual gathering of the community. |
| Georgian | The Georgian word "წელი" also refers to the "back pain", especially of a person who works too much and doesn't get enough rest and sleep. |
| German | In Middle High German, “Jar” meant “time” in a general sense, such as the time to wait until a crop is ripe for harvesting or until someone pays back a loan. |
| Greek | Έτος (έτος, étos): from the Proto-Indo-European word *wer- meaning “to turn” |
| Gujarati | "વર્ષ" (year - time) was derived from ancient Sanskrit "वर्षति" (varshati), which means "to rain". Hence, "a year" is the duration between two monsoons in the ancient Indian concept. |
| Haitian Creole | "Ane" derives from the French word "an" and was inherited from Arawakan. |
| Hausa | The etymology of the Hausa term |
| Hawaiian | Makahiki also refers to a festival honoring the god Lono in ancient Hawai'i. |
| Hebrew | The word "שָׁנָה" in Hebrew also means "to change" or "to repeat". |
| Hindi | Sal and Saala in Hindi both mean Brother-in-law and Brother-in-law's family, but Saala is also used in the sense of being a friend too. |
| Hmong | The Hmong word “xyoo” can also mean an age or era. |
| Hungarian | The Hungarian word "év" comes from the Proto-Finno-Ugric root "iwe," meaning "time." |
| Icelandic | Ári can also refer to an |
| Igbo | The Igbo word "afọ" can also refer to a "seed" or the "time for planting". |
| Indonesian | The Old Javanese "tawn" or "tawun" originally referred to the rice-planting season but came to mean "year" and was influenced by the Sanskrit "varsa". |
| Irish | The Irish word "bhliain" originates from the Proto-Celtic *bliđina, which also meant "time" or "season." |
| Italian | The word "anno" comes from the Latin term "annus," denoting a 12 month period and the annual cycle of seasons. |
| Japanese | "年" (とし, toshi) originally meant "good harvest" and is also used to signify "age," as in "何年" (なんねん, nannen, "how many years"). |
| Javanese | The Javanese word "taun" also means "season" or "monsoon" and is related to the Malay word "tahun" and the Indonesian word "tahun", both meaning "year". |
| Kannada | The Kannada word 'ವರ್ಷ' ('year') is derived from the Sanskrit word 'वर्ष' ('rain'), suggesting its connection to agricultural cycles and the monsoon seasons in the region. |
| Kazakh | Жыл is also used to measure the age of animals, with each "жыл" representing a year of life. |
| Khmer | "ឆ្នាំ" is also used to refer to an age group or generation of people born around the same time. |
| Korean | 년 (年) also refers to 'harvest'. |
| Kurdish | Sal ('year') in Kurdish also derives from the Old-Iranian form of 'wheel', related to the concept of yearly cycles. |
| Kyrgyz | Kyrgyz жыл “year” is cognate to Mongolian жил 'year' and Turkish yıl 'year', ultimately deriving from a Proto-Turkic root. |
| Lao | ປີ is also the Lao word for |
| Latin | "Annos singulos" can also refer to a period of time during the Roman Empire, known as an "indiction cycle," lasting 15 years. |
| Latvian | The word "gadā" comes from the Proto-Indo-European root *ǵʰodh- meaning "season" or "year". It is also cognate with the Sanskrit word "vatsara" meaning "year". |
| Lithuanian | Metus also means "fear" in Latin and shares a common root with the Sanskrit word "mita", meaning "measured or limited." |
| Luxembourgish | The word "Joer" is derived from the Latin "annus" and also refers to the biblical year, which lasts from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur. |
| Macedonian | In Old Church Slavonic, "година" meant "time" or "season," and in Serbo-Croatian, it can also refer to "bad luck" or "misfortune." |
| Malagasy | The Malagasy word |
| Malay | "Tahun" is thought to be derived from Proto-Austronesian "(ta)qun" meaning "season". |
| Maltese | The word "sena" is derived from Arabic and originally meant "age" or "time". |
| Maori | The Maori word "tau" also refers to the seasons and growth cycles, symbolizing renewal and abundance. |
| Marathi | The Marathi word वर्ष (varsha) also means 'rain' and 'downpour', reflecting the significance of monsoon rains in the region. |
| Mongolian | The word "жил" also refers to a 12-year calendar cycle in Mongolian and Tibetan cultures. |
| Myanmar (Burmese) | The Myanma word |
| Nepali | The word "बर्ष" in Nepali shares its root with the Sanskrit "वृष्" and the Proto-Indo-European "*wers-," meaning "to rain" or "to pour." |
| Norwegian | År is cognate with Old High German jār, meaning "harvest", and Latin hornus, meaning "of this year".} |
| Pashto | The Pashto word "کال" (kāl) also means "time" or "age". |
| Persian | In Persian, "سال" (year) can also refer to a specific period of time within a larger year, similar to "season" in English. |
| Polish | The word 'rok' also means 'fate' in Polish. |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | "Ano" also derives from Latin annus and can mean, by extension, an epoch or event |
| Punjabi | The Punjabi word "ਸਾਲ" can also refer to a plough shaft or an axe handle. |
| Romanian | In Romanian, "an" also means "spring" and "age," stemming from Latin "annus" (year) and "annata" (crop). |
| Russian | "Год" in Russian is a cognate of the English "year" and "yearn" and is related to the Greek word "hora", which means "season". |
| Samoan | "Tausaga" comes from proto-Polynesian "*ta:husa", meaning "time, season, or year." |
| Scots Gaelic | The word "bliadhna" is thought to be derived from the Proto-Celtic word "*wletos" meaning "year", which is also the origin of the Welsh word "blwyddyn" and the Irish word "bliain". |
| Serbian | Serbian "године" means "years" in plural and "of the year" in singular. |
| Sesotho | In Sesotho, "selemo" can also mean a full moon or a period of 12 months, or 364.5 days. |
| Shona | Gore also means 'the end' or 'the remainder' of something. |
| Sindhi | سال is a Persian word derived from Proto-Iranian *śāre- meaning 'year' and is used in Sindhi with the same meaning. |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | In Sanskrit, වර්ෂය derives from the verbal root वृष्, "to pour, flow, rain" (cognate to Latin versus, vortex). |
| Slovak | The word "rok" in Slovak originates from the Proto-Slavic word *lěto, which also means "summer". |
| Slovenian | The word "leto" in Slovenian originated from the Proto-Slavic word "leto" meaning "period". It is cognate with English "year" and Russian "лето" (leto). |
| Somali | The word 'sanadka' also refers to a period of twelve lunar months |
| Spanish | The word "año" in Spanish comes from the Latin word "annus", which also means "growth" or "circle", due to the cyclical nature of the year. |
| Sundanese | The word “taun” also refers to the seasons and to the rainy season or wet season (musim taun). |
| Swahili | Although "mwaka" most commonly means "year", it comes from the same root as "-kuweka" ("to place, set, put") and "wekera" ("place for"). |
| Swedish | In the past, 'år' referred to a season and was often used in place of the word 'harvest' |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | "Taon" is cognate to "zaman" in many Indonesian and Malayo-Polynesian languages, both meaning "time" or "year". |
| Tajik | The word "сол" in Tajik is a cognate of the Persian word "سال" meaning both "year" and "the sun" |
| Tamil | The term "ஆண்டு" can refer to a single year or to the concept of a year in general |
| Thai | The Thai word "ปี" not only means "year", but also has the connotation of "a specific period", as in a "rainy year" or a "harvest year". |
| Turkish | The word "yıl" is related to the Sanskrit word "kala", meaning "measure" or "time". |
| Ukrainian | The word “рік” in Ukrainian also means “a point in time; a moment; a period of time”. |
| Urdu | The word 'سال' (year) in Urdu is derived from the Persian word 'سال' which also means 'age' and is used in a similar context. |
| Uzbek | Yil is also used in Uzbek to describe a twelve-year calendar cycle and may be derived from the Arabic word for month "ay" or from the Turkic root "y" (to walk, go) |
| Vietnamese | The word "năm" also means "to wait" or "to expect" in Vietnamese. |
| Welsh | The Welsh word |
| Xhosa | The Xhosa word "unyaka" originally meant "fruit" but was applied to the concept of a "year" based on the seasonal availability of fruits. |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word "יאָר" (pronounced "yor") is a cognate of the Germanic word *jēraz-, but unlike in Germanic, Yiddish uses a cognate of Latin *annus to refer to the current or the upcoming year, which is where English "year" comes from. |
| Yoruba | "Odun" can also mean "harvest" or "festival" in Yoruba. |
| Zulu | The Zulu word "unyaka" also refers to a period of 12 lunar months, known as a lunar year. |
| English | The word 'year' stems from the Old English geār and Proto-Germanic jēraz, also referring to a 'harvest,' 'season' or 'spring.' |