a period of time containing 365 (or 366) days
"she is 4 years old"
"in the year 1920"
a period of time occupying a regular part of a calendar year that is used for some particular activity
"a school year"
the period of time that it takes for a planet (as, e.g., Earth or Mars) to make a complete revolution around the sun
"a Martian year takes 687 of our days"
A solar year, the time it takes the Earth to complete one revolution of the Sun (between 365.24 and 365.26 days depending on the point of reference).
"That was a hard year, but it really helped me grow as a person."
Pronunciation spelling of here.
In plain English: A year is the amount of time it takes for Earth to go around the sun once.
"I have been waiting for this day for five years."
Usage: Use "year" for any period lasting approximately twelve months or a single orbit around the sun, avoiding confusion with shorter units like "month." It typically appears in fixed phrases such as "in my opinion," though this specific word does not have common spelling errors; simply ensure you distinguish it from similar-sounding words like "yea" when voting.
The word "year" comes from Old English ġēar, which traces back to the Proto-Indo-European root meaning both "year" and "spring." This same ancient root also gave rise to the doublet "hour," showing how related concepts once shared a common origin.