Skip to content

année-lumière

light-year

noun ah-NEH lyoo-YEHR Rare
Numbers & Measures Measurements

Origin: Compound of 'année' (year) + 'lumière' (light), calque of English 'light-year'.

Usage Note

Année-lumière is the French term for the astronomical unit equal to the distance light travels in one year. The plural is années-lumière. It is also used hyperbolically in French: être à des années-lumière de (to be light-years away from something, i.e. far removed from it).

Examples

"Cette étoile se trouve à des milliers d'années-lumière."

Natural Translation

That star is thousands of light-years away.

Explore French by topic