many generations; many ages; many years
Poetic or literary term for a long span of time, often implying many generations or ages. Not used in everyday conversation; more common in songs, poems, or formal writing.
A feeling that remains unchanged even after many ages.
The history of many generations is etched into this land.
何代 is a more common, everyday way to ask or state 'how many generations', while 幾世 is literary and poetic.
幾久 is an archaic term for 'a long time', similar in register but less common than 幾世.
Standard kanji spelling for 'many generations/ages'.
Alternate kanji spelling; 代 emphasizes 'generation' or 'era'.
Kana spelling, used when the kanji nuance is not needed or for clarity.
Compound of 幾 (iku, 'how many') + 世 (yo, 'generation, age, world'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but it follows a classical pattern for expressing indefinite large numbers of time periods.