三さん秋しゅう

noun

three autumn months; three years

Literary term. Can refer to the three months of autumn (by the lunar calendar) or, by extension, three years. The 'three years' meaning comes from the idea of three autumns passing. Rare in modern everyday speech; mostly found in classical poetry and literature.

• 漢かん詩しに「三さん秋しゅう」という言こと葉ばが出でてくる。

  The word 'sanshū' appears in Chinese poetry.

• 「一いち日じつ三さん秋しゅう」という成せい語ごは、一いち日にちが三さん年ねんのように長ながく感かんじられることを表あらわす。

  The idiom 'ichijitsu sanshū' expresses that a single day feels as long as three years.