The kanji 歳 represents "age," "year," or "years old." It is primarily used to indicate someone's age or the duration of time that has passed, especially in terms of years. It suggests the process of aging and the progression of time.

・On-yomi (音読み): サイ (sai) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): とし (toshi)

⚫︎ 年齢 (ねんれい) Translation: age ⚫︎ 二十歳 (はたち) Translation: twenty years old (specifically) ⚫︎ 今年 (ことし)歳はいい年になりますように。 Translation: I hope I will have a good year this year.

The kanji 歳 is a 形声文字 (keisei moji), a phono-semantic compound. The left side is a radical called 止 (shi)meaning "to stop," "to cease," or "foot." The right side is 戌 (juts), representing the zodiac sign "dog," and also implies the idea of "a year." Initially, 戌was a reference to the harvest or the year's cycle. So, it combines the concepts of the stopping or completion of a cycle. It also implies the passing of time with its association with the year. Therefore, the combination of "foot" and "dog/harvest" conveys the idea of the passing of time and the measurement of age in years.