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Glite Dictionary
a year and a day

a year and a day

1 7.2
A period of one year and one day used in law and tradition
  • noun
  • Formal
translation icon : un año y un día
  • So she collected herbs and boiled them in a cauldron for a year and a day.
  • a year and a day in prison
  • sentenced to a year and a day

The only thing worse than being in a toxic relationship for a year is being in it for a year and a day.

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Examples

  • "It just takes her a year and a day."

    Fiction book (1999)

  • He was sentenced to a year and a day in a federal penitentiary and served four months of the sentence.

    Academic text (1997)

  • Now it's given a year and a day after the wedding.

    Tom Scott

  • I hereby sentence you to a year and a day in a state penitentiary.

    House of Gucci (2021)

  • I'd say that if they try you and convict you, you won't get more than a year and a day.

    Jackie Brown (1997)

  • For a year and a day they go back to Ginen, Africa, under the water, until they are recalled by relatives to a warmer and drier life.

    Academic text (1996)

  • Letters sprang to life on the screen: it was a standard form, pledging her to silence regarding the subjects discussed at this meeting—time, date, and place were specified in excruciating detail—for a year and a day, and named a heavy fine for breaking the agreement.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • The judge imposed a sentence of a year and a day for his role in the fraud scheme.

  • She received a year and a day in prison for her involvement in the criminal activities.

  • The defendant was sentenced to a year and a day after pleading guilty to the charges.

Surface Forms

a year and a day singular
years and days plural

Morphology

a + year + and + a + day

The meaning 'one year plus one day' is directly and compositionally derived from the constituents 'year' + 'and' + 'day', so a B1 learner who knows those words will readily infer it denotes slightly more than a year. While the phrase can carry a precise legal or traditional significance, its basic additive, literal structure is transparent and cross-linguistically common.

Etymology

A year and a day may come from old laws and customs. People added one extra day to a full year to make the time clearly finished, so the phrase came to mean 'one year plus one day' for rules, contracts, or punishments.