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年輪

ねんりん

annual tree ring; (figuratively) accumulated years of experience

By Nihongo PathUpdated

Examples

  1. 切り株の年輪を数えた。

    きりかぶのねんりんをかぞえた。

    I counted the rings on the tree stump.

  2. 年輪を見ればその木の年齢が分かる。

    ねんりんをみればそのきのねんれいがわかる。

    You can tell a tree's age from its rings.

  3. 彼の演奏には年輪を感じさせる深みがある。

    かれのえんそうにはねんりんをかんじさせるふかみがある。

    His playing has a depth that speaks of long years of experience.

Common patterns

年輪を数える
to count the growth rings
年輪を重ねる
to accumulate years of experience
年輪が刻まれる
the years leave their mark

Memory tip

輪 is 'ring', so 年輪 is literally 'year rings'. The figurative use 年輪を重ねる is a compliment about depth earned slowly — and the lookalike 年鑑 (ねんかん) is a yearbook, a different word entirely.

Kanji in this word

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What does 年輪 mean?