Chinese word

周年

Pronunciation

Pinyinzhōu nián

Meaning

  • nounanniversary

Example

商店举办了周年促销活动。shāng diàn jǔ bàn le zhōu nián cù xiāo huó dòng

The store held an anniversary sale.

Illustration for 周年 (anniversary)

More examples

公司举办了周年庆，邀请了很多客户。gōng sī jǔ bàn le zhōu nián qìng yāo qǐng le hěn duō kè hù

The company held an anniversary celebration and invited many customers.

Core concept

A whole-year checkpoint that comes around after an event, marking another complete year in its history.

Common phrases

  • 周年庆zhōu nián qìng

    anniversary celebration

  • 周年促销zhōu nián cù xiāo

    anniversary sale

Similar words

生日shēng rì: A special day each year that celebrates the date a person was born.
纪念日jì niàn rì: A special day set aside to remember an important event or person.
周年庆zhōu nián qìng: An event or celebration held to mark a whole number of years since something happened.

Definition in Chinese

周年是指达到某个整数年时的纪念点，也可指从发生至今的整年年数。zhōu nián shì zhǐ dá dào mǒu gè zhěng shù nián shí de jì niàn diǎn yě kě zhǐ cóng fā shēng zhì jīn de zhěng nián nián shù

Word origin

The compound 周 (zhōu, "cycle") + 年 (nián, "year") pictures one full year completing a cycle, which gives the word its anniversary sense.

Usage tips

  • In Chinese, a number before the word counts the completed years, while English usually says first, third, or tenth anniversary rather than one, three, or ten anniversary.

Related words

  • 周年纪念zhōu nián jì niànanniversary commemorationnoun
  • 周年纪念日zhōu nián jì niàn rìanniversary datenoun

Word lists with this word