long time; long years of service
Refers to a long period of time, often in the context of someone's experience or tenure. The term is somewhat literary and not commonly used in everyday conversation.
彼は劫臈を経た職人だ。
He is a craftsman with many years of experience.
劫臈を重ねた味わいがある。
It has a flavor that comes from long aging.
永年 also means 'long years' but is more formal and often used in written contexts; 劫臈 carries a nuance of seasoned maturity.
Standard kanji spelling for this term.
Variant kanji form; the second character is an older form of 臈.
Variant kanji form; the second character is a less common variant.
From 劫, a cosmologically vast period, and 臈, years of monastic seniority. The compound consequently denotes great age, long service, or a long passage of time.