子年ねずみどし

also: ネズミどし

Meanings

noun

year of the Rat

Refers to the year of the Rat in the Chinese zodiac. Used in contexts such as age, birth year, and astrology.

来らい年ねんは子年ねずみどしです。
Next year is the year of the Rat.
私わたしは子年ねずみどし生うまれです。
I was born in the year of the Rat.

See all 3 example sentences ›

Kanji

年year, counter for years
子child, sign of the rat, 11PM-1AM

Related words

十じゅう二に支し
十二支 is the full set of 12 zodiac signs; 子年 specifically means the Rat year.
干支えと
干支 is the sexagenary cycle combining 十干 and 十二支; 子年 is one of the 12 animal years.

Written forms

子年Usage100%
- ねずみどし
  Standard kanji spelling using the zodiac character 子. Also read ねどし.
- ねどし
ねずみ年どし
Mixed kanji-kana spelling; common in everyday writing.
ネズミ年どし
Katakana variant of ねずみ年, sometimes used for emphasis or style.
ねどし
ネズミどし

Etymology

From 子 (the first sign of the Chinese zodiac, associated with the rat) and 年 (year). The reading ねずみどし is a kun'yomi compound; ねどし is a contracted reading.