年中
ねんじゅう · nenjuu · JLPT N3 · noun
class
📅 年中 = year + throughout: all year long, so always
年 means year, and the suffix 中 (じゅう) means throughout, as in 一日中, all day long. A whole year without a break comes to mean always or constantly, e.g. 年中忙しい, busy all year round.
年 — grain 禾 over person 人 (oracle bone)
Originally a pictograph of a person carrying a bundle of harvested grain on their back, representing the yearly grain harvest. Because harvests came once a year, the character shifted from meaning 'harvest' to meaning 'year.' The modern form 年 obscures the original 禾 (grain) + 人 (person) structure.
中 — vertical stroke 丨 through enclosure 口
Pictograph of a banner or pole piercing the center of a target or territory, depicting the idea of 'middle' or 'center'. The horizontal frame represents boundaries, and the vertical line marks the central axis. The meaning extended from spatial center to 'middle, central, China' (中国, the Middle Kingdom).