nominal age; traditional East Asian age reckoning
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 3 examplesnoun
nominal age; traditional age reckoning where a person is considered one year old at birth and gains a year each New Year
Contrasts with 周岁 (actual age). In this system, a newborn is 一岁, and everyone ages one year on the Lunar New Year (or January 1 in modern usage), making the nominal age one to two years older than the actual age.
Zài在
Zhōng中
guó国
，
hěn很
duō多
lǎo老
rén人
xí习
guàn惯
yòng用
xū虚
suì岁
lái来
jì计
suàn算
nián年
líng龄
。
In China, many elderly people are accustomed to calculating age using nominal age.
Àn按
xū虚
suì岁
suàn算
，
tā他
jīn今
nián年
sān三
suì岁
le了
，
dàn但
shí实
jì际
shang上
tā他
cái才
liǎng两
suì岁
。
According to nominal age reckoning, he is three years old this year, but actually he is only two.
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Xū虚
suì岁
bǐ比
zhōu周
suì岁
dà大
yī一
dào到
liǎng两
suì岁
。
Nominal age is one to two years greater than actual age.