年

年 U+5E74, 年 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-5E74 ← 平 [U+5E73] CJK Unified Ideographs 幵 → [U+5E75]

年 U+F98E, 年 CJK COMPATIBILITY IDEOGRAPH-F98E ← 轢 [U+F98D] CJK Compatibility Ideographs 憐 → [U+F98F]

Stroke order

Stroke order

年 (Kangxi radical 51, 干+3, 6 strokes, cangjie input 人手 (OQ), four-corner 8050₀, composition ⿱𠂉㐄 or ⿻午⿱一丨 or ⿻午丄)

• 哖, 姩, 脌, 鵇

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 340, character 1
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 9168
• Dae Jaweon: page 648, character 2
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 37, character 6
• Unihan data for U+5E74

• Unihan data for U+F98E

simp. and trad.		年
alternative forms		秂 秊 䄹 𰨝 𠡦 秂 秊 䄹 𰨝 𠡦 𠦅 𠦚 䄭 𦼌 𠬋 𠫺

In the oracle bone script and early bronze inscriptions, it was originally 秂, an ideogrammic compound (會意 / 会意) and phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *niːŋ): semantic 禾 (“wheat; grain”) + phonetic 人 (OC *njin, “person”) – a person carrying wheat on his back – harvest. In bronze inscriptions after the Western Zhou period, a stroke was often added to 人 to give 千 (OC *sn̥ʰiːn), which still acted as a phonetic component, thus getting (秊). The current form is inherited from the clerical script, where libian (隸變) has occurred.

See also 以, in which a person is carrying something, 央, in which a person is carrying a pole, and 重, in which a person is carrying a bag.

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-ni(ŋ~k) (“year”).

年

1. year (in generic contexts)

   明年  ―  míngnián  ―  next year

   2012年  ―  2012 nián  ―  the year of 2012

2. harvest

   豐年／丰年  ―  fēngnián  ―  year with a good harvest

3. annual

   年報／年报  ―  niánbào  ―  annual report

4. age

   年滿二十／年满二十  ―  nián mǎn èrshí  ―  to reach twenty years of age

   延年益壽／延年益寿  ―  yánniányìshòu  ―  to prolong life

5. period of life

   童年  ―  tóngnián  ―  childhood

6. period (in history)

   清朝末年  ―  Qīngcháo mònián  ―  last years of the Qing dynasty

7. Chinese New Year

   過年／过年  ―  guònián  ―  to spend the Chinese New Year

8. things for the Chinese New Year

   年糕  ―  niángāo  ―  nian gao

   年貨／年货  ―  niánhuò  ―  New Year purchases

9. Classifier for years.

   兩年前／两年前 [Cantonese]  ―  loeng⁵ nin⁴ cin⁴ [Jyutping]  ―  two years ago

10. a surname

    年羹堯／年羹尧  ―  Nián Gēngyáo  ―  Nian Gengyao

• Although 年 is the generic term for year, years of age are typically expressed in 歲／岁 (suì), a separate system based on the duodecennial orbital period of Jupiter. Ages in 歲／岁 (suì) are traditionally reckoned using the Chinese lunar calendar, beginning with 1 at the moment of birth and increasing not during birthdays but at the Chinese New Year.

• 歲／岁 (suì)
• 秋 (qiū)

Others:

• Wutunhua: nian
• → Zhuang: nienz

• “年”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎^[1], 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–
• Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants (教育部異體字字典), A01194
• “年”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2025.
• “年”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2025.

(First grade kyōiku kanji)

• Go-on: ねん (nen, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: でん (den)
• Kun: とし (toshi, 年, Jōyō)、とせ (tose, 年)、よわい (yowai, 年)^{←よはひ (yofafi, 年, historical)}、みのり (minori, 年)
• Nanori: ね (ne)

Kanji in this term
年
ねん Grade: 1
on'yomi

From Middle Chinese 年 (nen, “year”). Compare modern Mandarin reading nián, Hakka ngièn, Cantonese nin⁴.

• (Tokyo) ねん [néꜜǹ] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [nẽ̞ɴ]

年(ねん) • (-nen) 

1. years

年(ねん) • (nen) 

1. a year

   年(ねん)に一(いち)度(ど)

   nen ni ichido

   once a year

年(ねん) • (-nen) 

1. a grade, a school year

   彼(かれ)は中(ちゅう)学(がく) ２(に)年(ねん)だ。

   Kare wa chūgaku ni-nen da.

   He's in the second year in junior high school.

   • 1984 February 15, Motoka Murakami, “１(いち)年(ねん)１(いち)組(くみ)の六(ム)三(サ)四(シ)と嵐(らん)子(こ)の巻(まき) [Class-1 Freshmen, Musashi and Ranko]”, in 六(ム)三(サ)四(シ)の剣(けん) [Musashi’s Sword], volume 13 (fiction), Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN, pages 142–144:

     な、なんだおまえら⁉

     Na, nan da o-maera⁉

     Wh-Who the hell are you!?

     １(いち)年(ねん) １(いち)組(くみ)っ‼ 夏(なつ)木(き)六(ム)三(サ)四(シ)ぃ‼

     Ichi-nen ichi-kumi'‼ Natsuki Musashī‼

     Class-1 freshman!! Musashi Natsuki!!

     同(おな)じく轟(とどろき)嵐(らん)子(こ)！

     Onajiku Todoroki Ranko!

     Same here, Ranko Todoroki!

2. a year

   2008(にせんはち)年(ねん)に橋(はし)を建(けん)設(せつ)し始(はじ)めるようだ。

   Nisenhachi-nen ni hashi o kensetsu shi hajimeru yō da.

   It seems like they will start constructing the bridge in (the year) 2008.

Kanji in this term
年
とし Grade: 1
kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
歳

⟨to₂si⟩ → /tosi/ → /toɕi/

From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *təsi. Originally referred to grain, particularly rice, and by extension, the year's harvest.^[2]

• (Tokyo) とし [tòshíꜜ] (Odaka – [2])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [to̞ɕi]

年(とし) • (toshi) 

1. (obsolete) grain, particularly rice
2. (obsolete) a grain harvest, a grain crop
3. a year
4. age
5. (specifically) used to describe the age of someone who should not do things inappropriate for their age

   Synonym: いいとし (ii toshi)

   歳(とし)なので

   toshi nanode

   because one is no longer young

Kanji in this term
年
とせ Grade: 1
kun'yomi

/to₂se/ → /tose/

From Old Japanese.^[2] Likely a shift in pronunciation from 年(とし) (toshi).

• IPA^(key): [to̞se̞]

年(とせ) • (-tose) 

1. (obsolete) used to count years
   • c. 759, Man’yōshū, book 5, poem 880:
     , text [2]:

     阿麻社迦留(あまざかる)、比奈尓伊都(ひなにいつ)等世(とせ)、周麻比都都(すまひつつ)、美夜故能提夫利(みやこのてぶり)、和周良延尓家利(わすらえにけり)

     Amazakaru, hina ni itsu tose, sumahitsutsu, miyako no teburi, wasuraenikeri

     While living five years in the far-remote countryside, I wound up forgetting the manners of the capital

From Middle Chinese 年 (MC nen).

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ɲʌ̹n] ~ [jʌ̹n]
• Phonetic hangul: [년/연]

Wikisource

年 (eumhun 해 년 (hae nyeon), word-initial (South Korea) 해 연 (hae yeon))

1. hanja form^? of 년/연 (“year”)

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典. [3]

年: Hán Việt readings: niên^[1][2][3]
年: Nôm readings: năm^[1][2][3][4], nên^[1][2][3], niên^[1][2][4], niền^[2]

1. chữ Hán form of niên (“year”)
2. chữ Nôm form of năm (“year”)