Editing Year (section)

== Etymology ==
English ''year'' (via [[West Saxon dialect (Old English)|West Saxon]] ''ġēar'' ({{IPA|/jɛar/}}), [[Anglian dialects|Anglian]] ''ġēr'') continues [[Proto-Germanic]] ''*jǣran'' (''*j[[Proto-Germanic language#ē₁ and ē₂|ē₁]]<nowiki>ran</nowiki>''). Cognates are [[German language|German]] ''Jahr'', [[Old High German]] ''jār'', [[Old Norse]] ''ár'' and [[Gothic language|Gothic]] ''[[:wikt:𐌾𐌴𐍂|jer]]'',<!--(Gothic ''e'' is always a long vowel)--> from the [[Proto-Indo-European]] noun ''{{PIE|[[:wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/yeh₁-|*yeh₁r-om]]}}'' "year, season". Cognates also descended from the same Proto-Indo-European noun (with variation in suffix [[ablaut]]) are [[Avestan]] ''yārǝ'' "year", [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] {{lang|grc|ὥρα}} ({{Lang|grc-Latn|hṓra}}) "year, season, period of time" (whence "[[hour]]"), [[Old Church Slavonic]] ''jarŭ'', and [[Latin]] ''hornus'' "of this year".{{citation needed||date=May 2023}}

Latin {{Lang|la|[[annus]]}} (a [[2nd declension]] masculine noun; {{Lang|la|annum}} is the [[accusative case|accusative singular]]; {{Lang|la|annī}} is [[genitive]] singular and [[nominative]] plural; {{Lang|la|annō}} the [[dative]] and [[ablative]] singular) is from a [[Proto-Indo-European language|PIE]] noun ''{{PIE|*h₂et-no-}}'', which also yielded Gothic ''aþn'' "year" (only the dative plural ''aþnam'' is attested).

Although most languages treat the word as thematic ''*yeh₁r-o-'', there is evidence for an original derivation with an ''*-r/n'' suffix, ''*yeh₁-ro-''. Both Indo-European words for year, ''*yeh₁-ro-'' and ''*h₂et-no-'', would then be derived from verbal roots meaning "to go, move", ''*h₁ey-'' and ''*h₂et-'', respectively (compare [[Vedic Sanskrit]] ''éti'' "goes", ''atasi'' "thou goest, wanderest"). A number of English words are derived from Latin {{Lang|la|annus}}, such as [[wikt:annual|annual]], [[:wikt:annuity|annuity]], [[:wikt:anniversary|anniversary]], etc.; ''[[:wikt:per annum|per annum]]'' means "each year", {{Lang|la|[[anno Domini|annō Dominī]]}} means "in the year of the Lord".

The Greek word for "year", {{lang|grc|ἔτος}}, is cognate with Latin ''vetus'' "old", from the PIE word ''*wetos-'' "year", also preserved in this meaning in [[Sanskrit]] ''{{IAST|vat-sa-ras}}'' "year" and ''{{IAST|vat-sa-}}'' "yearling (calf)", the latter also reflected in Latin ''[[:wikt:vitulus|vitulus]]'' "bull calf", English ''wether'' "ram" (Old English ''weðer'', Gothic ''wiþrus'' "lamb").

In some languages, it is common to count years by referencing to one season, as in "summers", or "winters", or "harvests". Examples include Chinese [[:wikt:年|年]] "year", originally [[:wikt:秂|秂]], an ideographic compound of a person carrying a bundle of wheat denoting "harvest". Slavic besides ''[[:wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/godъ|godŭ]]'' "time period; year" uses ''[[:wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/lěto|lěto]]'' "summer; year".