year of the Monkey
Refers to the Monkey year in the Chinese zodiac cycle. Used in contexts like age, fortune-telling, or New Year greetings.
Next year is the year of the Monkey.
People born in the year of the Monkey are said to be curious.
Standard kanji spelling using the zodiac sign 申.
Katakana-kanji spelling, sometimes used for emphasis or in casual contexts.
Mixed kana-kanji spelling, common in everyday writing.
Irregular kanji usage; 猿 is the animal, not the zodiac sign, but may be encountered.
Compound of 申 (さる, 'Monkey', the ninth sign of the Chinese zodiac) and 年 (どし, 'year').