time of year - one of the natural periods into which the year is divided by the equinoxes and solstices or atmospheric conditions; "the regular sequence of the seasons"period, period of time, time period - an amount of time; "a time period of 30 years"; "hastened the period of time of his recovery"; "Picasso's blue period" year - the period of time that it takes for a planet (as, e.g., Earth or Mars) to make a complete revolution around the sun; "a Martian year takes 687 of our days" autumn, fall - the season when the leaves fall from the trees; "in the fall of 1973" spring, springtime - the season of growth; "the emerging buds were a sure sign of spring"; "he will hold office until the spring of next year" summer, summertime - the warmest season of the year; in the northern hemisphere it extends from the summer solstice to the autumnal equinox; "they spent a lazy summer at the shore" winter, wintertime - the coldest season of the year; in the northern hemisphere it extends from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox dry season - one of the two seasons in tropical climates |