Word
同い年
Meaning in Englishof the same age
Animated kanji stroke order
Sentence
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Word context
What it means
同い年 means a person who is the same age as another, i.e., someone born in the same year.
Main meanings
- Denotes that two or more people share the same birth year, hence the same age
- Used to describe a person who is the same age as someone else, typically with の to form 同い年の人
- Conveys equality in age without implying any formal relationship or hierarchy
How to use it
Used in casual and neutral contexts to describe peers or to categorize people by age in social settings; typically modifies a following noun with の, as in 同い年の人; focuses on age equality rather than status or relationship.
Variants and close terms
- 同年齢 (どうねんれい) — same age
- 同年代 (どうねんだい) — same generation
- 年上 / 年下 (ねんじょう / ねんした) — older or younger
Composition
- 同: sameness
- 年: year or age
- い: adjective-like suffix forming the compound
Etymology
同い (onai) + 年 (toshi) combine to form onai-doshi, the compound meaning same age; 同い acts as a base meaning same, while 年 supplies the age context; the whole is read onai-doshi
Word class
Noun (名詞)
Word
Related words by kanji and components
N1
晩年
bannen
(one's) last years
N2
～年生
～nensei
counter for school year
N2
一昨年
issakunen
year before last
N2
学年
gakunen
year in school, grade in school
N2
合同
goudou
combination, incorporation
N2
青少年
seishounen
youth, young person
N2
中年
chuunen
middle-aged
N2
同～
dou～
same ~
N2
同格
doukaku
the same rank, equality, apposition
Kanji