Dictionary

light year en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈlaɪt.jɜː/ (Wales)
• /ˈlaɪt.jɪɹ/ (General-American)
• /ˈlaɪt.jɪə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (US) audio
• /ˈläːt.jøː/ (General-South-African)

Meanings

1. A unit of length used to measure extremely large distances, equal to approximately 9.46 trillion kilometres 10 trillion kilometres (10¹⁶ metres), equivalent to the distance light travels in one Julian year.
   • We live our lives in three dimensions for our threescore and ten allotted years. Yet every branch of contemporary science, from statistics to cosmology, alludes to processes that operate on scales outside of human experience: the millisecond and the nanometer, the eon and the light-year. 2012 January 14, Robert L. Dorit, “Rereading Darwin”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 14 Nov 2012, retrieved 11 May 2013-05-11, page 23:
2. (figuratively, in-plural, informal) A very long way.
   • Now that they've graduated, they'll have to make some mature decisions in their future. One of which? Settling on their signature scent that is lightyears away from the $10 body spray they had throughout school. 2024 May 10, Hannah Oh, Daisy Maldonado, “50 College Graduation Gifts That Say, “I’m So Effing Proud of You!””, in Cosmopolitan:
   • The marathon runner in the lead is light years ahead of the one at the back.
3. (figuratively, in-plural, informal) A very long time.
   • Some of Leonardo da Vinci’s inventions were light years ahead of their time.

Forms

Deriveds

kly · megalightyear · gigalightyear · Mly · Kly · Gly · kilolightyear · ly

Relateds

light minute · light eon · light day · parsec · astronomical unit · light millennium · light century · light week · light month · light aeon · light second · lightspeed · light hour · light decade

Translations (95)

tk ýagtylyk ýyly (unit of astronomical distance) · nn lysår (unit of astronomical distance) · qu achkiy wata (unit of astronomical distance) · my အလင်းနှစ် (unit of astronomical distance) · cy blwyddyn golau (unit of astronomical distance) · br bloavezh-gouloù (unit of astronomical distance) · uk світлови́й рік (unit of astronomical distance) · hu fényévek (a very long way) · is ljósár (unit of astronomical distance) · el έτος φωτός (unit of astronomical distance) · hu fényév (unit of astronomical distance) · sv ljusår (a very long way) · lb Liichtjoer (unit of astronomical distance) · be светлавы́ год (unit of astronomical distance) · hy լուսատարի (unit of astronomical distance) · ru светово́й год (unit of astronomical distance) · th ปีแสง (unit of astronomical distance) · cs světelný rok (unit of astronomical distance) · lo ປີແສງ (unit of astronomical distance) · tr ışık yılı (unit of astronomical distance) · bg светли́нна годи́на (unit of astronomical distance) · fi valovuosi (a very long way) · fr année-lumière (unit of astronomical distance) · ja 光年 (unit of astronomical distance) · it anni luce (a very long way) · kmr saletîrêj (unit of astronomical distance) · nn ljosår (unit of astronomical distance) · ky жарык жылы (unit of astronomical distance) · cmn 光年 (unit of astronomical distance) · et valgusaasta (unit of astronomical distance) · sjo ᡝᠯᡩᡝᠨ ᠠᠨᡞᠶᠠ (unit of astronomical distance) · mt sena dawl (unit of astronomical distance) · io lumyaro (unit of astronomical distance) · kk жарық жылы (unit of astronomical distance) · dsb swětłowe lěto (unit of astronomical distance) · fo ljósár (unit of astronomical distance) · fa سال نوری (unit of astronomical distance) · kn ಜ್ಯೋತಿರ್ವರ್ಷ (unit of astronomical distance) · bn আলোক বর্ষ (unit of astronomical distance) · ro an-lumină (unit of astronomical distance) · sh svjetlosna godina (unit of astronomical distance) · ur نوری سال (unit of astronomical distance) · om wagga iffa (unit of astronomical distance) · gu પ્રકાશવર્ષ (unit of astronomical distance) · ko 광년 (unit of astronomical distance) · ga solasbhliain (unit of astronomical distance) · bo འོད་ལོ (unit of astronomical distance) · id tahun cahaya (unit of astronomical distance) · vi năm ánh sáng (unit of astronomical distance) · ast añu lluz (unit of astronomical distance) · yue 光年 (unit of astronomical distance) · fo ljósár (a very long way) · pt ano-luz (unit of astronomical distance) · eu argi-urte (unit of astronomical distance) · fi valovuosi (unit of astronomical distance) · scn annu luci (unit of astronomical distance) · hi प्रकाशवर्ष (unit of astronomical distance) · lt šviẽsmetis (unit of astronomical distance) · gl ano luz (unit of astronomical distance) · la spatium lucis annuae (unit of astronomical distance) · nb lysår (unit of astronomical distance) · sk svetelný rok (unit of astronomical distance) · it anno luce (unit of astronomical distance) · lv gaismas gads (unit of astronomical distance) · ms tahun cahaya (unit of astronomical distance) · es año luz (unit of astronomical distance) · te కాంతిసంవత్సరము (unit of astronomical distance) · de Lichtjahr (unit of astronomical distance) · nl lichtjaar (unit of astronomical distance) · mk светлосна година (unit of astronomical distance) · cmn 遙遙領先 /遥遥领先 (a very long way) · sw mwaka wa nuru (unit of astronomical distance) · tl sinag-taon (unit of astronomical distance) · af ligjaar (unit of astronomical distance) · tg соли нур (unit of astronomical distance) · sh svetlosna godina (unit of astronomical distance) · mn гэрлийн жил (unit of astronomical distance) · an año luz (unit of astronomical distance) · sl svetlòbno léto (a very long way) · ar سَنَة ضَوْئِيَّة (unit of astronomical distance) · sv ljusår (unit of astronomical distance) · pl rok świetlny (unit of astronomical distance) · da lysår (unit of astronomical distance) · sh светлосна година (unit of astronomical distance) · ca any llum (unit of astronomical distance) · he שנת אור (unit of astronomical distance) · ka სინათლის წელიწადი (unit of astronomical distance) · nan-hbl 光年 (unit of astronomical distance) · sl svetlòbno léto (unit of astronomical distance) · ta ஒளியாண்டு (unit of astronomical distance) · li Leechjaor (unit of astronomical distance) · eo lumjaro (unit of astronomical distance) · sq dritëviti (unit of astronomical distance) · uz yorugʻlik yili (unit of astronomical distance) · sh свјетлосна година (unit of astronomical distance)