English
Etymology
light + year
Noun
wikipedia
en-noun|sg=light year
- astronomy A unit of length (abbreviation ly) equal to the distance light travels in one year; used to measure extremely large distances.
- (in plural light years; figurative, informal) A very long way.
#:The marathon runner in the lead is light years ahead of the one at the back.
- (in plural light years; figurative, informal, nonstandard) A very long time.
#:Some of Leonardo da Vinci's inventions were light years ahead of their time.
Usage notes
The light year is a unit of length, but because it contains the word year is sometimes assumed to be a unit of time. Its use in the figurative sense of "a very long time" is nonstandard; it is preferable to use an alternative term in this case.
rfv|Old English has a term for light year? are the other translations reliable?
Translations
Albanian: dritëviti
Arabic: ARchar|سÙØ© ضÙئÙØ© f
Asturian: añu lluz m
Basque: argi-urte
Belarusian: ÑÑвеÑÐ»Ð°Ð²Ñ Ð³Ð¾Ð´ (svetlavy god) m
Bengali: à¦à¦²à§à¦ বরà§à¦·
Bosnian: svjetlosna godina f
Breton: bloavezh-gouloù
Bulgarian: ÑвеÑлинна година (svetlinna godina) f
Catalan: any-llum m
Chinese:
:Mandarin: å
å¹´ (guÄngnián)
:Min Nan: kng-nî
Croatian: svjetlosna godina f
Czech: svÄtelný rok m
Danish: lysår (1)
Dutch: lichtjaar n (1)
Esperanto: lumjaro (1)
Estonian: valgusaasta (1)
Finnish: valovuosi
French: année-lumière f (1)
Galician: ano luz m
Georgian: á¡ááááááá¡ á¬áááá¬ááá (sinat'lis ts'elits'adi)
German: Lichtjahr n (1)
Greek: ÎÏÎ¿Ï ÏÏÏÏÏ (étos fotós) n
Gujarati: પà«àª°àªàª¾àª¶àªµàª°à«àª·
Hebrew: ×©× ×ª ××ר f
Hungarian: fényév
Icelandic: ljósár
Ido: lumyaro
Indonesian: tahun cahaya
Italian: anno luce m (1)
Japanese: å
å¹´ (ãããã, kÅnen)
mid
Kannada: à²à³à²¯à³à²¤à²¿à²°à³à²µà²°à³à²·
Korean: ê´ë
(gwang-nyeon)
Kurdish: saletîrêj
Latin: spatium lucis annuae n
Latvian: gaismas gads
Limburgish: Leechjaor n
Lithuanian: Å¡viesmetis
Luxembourgish: Liichtjoer n
Macedonian: ÑвеÑлоÑна година (svetlosna godina) f
Malay: tahun cahaya
Maltese: sena dawl f
Mongolian: гÑÑлийн жил (gerliin žil)
Norwegian: lysår
Old English: leohtgear|lÄohtgÄar
Oromo: wagga iffa
Polish: rok Åwietlny (1)
Portuguese: ano-luz m (1)
Quechua: achkiy wata
Romanian: an-luminÄ
Russian: ÑвеÑовой год (svetovój god) m
Serbian: ÑвеÑлоÑна година (svetlosna godina) f
Sicilian: annu luci m
Slovak: svetelný rok m (1)
Slovene: svetlobno leto n (1,2)
Spanish: año luz m
Swahili: mwaka wa nuru
Swedish: ljusår n (1,2)
Tamil: à®à®³à®¿à®¯à®¾à®£à¯à®à¯
Thai: THchar|à¸à¸µà¹à¸ªà¸ (bpee sÄeng)
Turkish: iÅık yılı
Ukrainian: ÑвÑÑловий ÑÑк (svitlovyj rik)
Vietnamese: nÄm ánh sáng
Welsh: blwyddyn golau
See also
parsec
Category:English misnomers
zh-min-nan:light year
fr:light year
id:light year
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