虚 岁

xū suìdictionary entry

one's age, according to the traditional Chinese method of reckoning (i.e. the number of Chinese calendar years in which one has lived) – In this system, a person's age at birth is one, and increases by one at the beginning of the first solar term 立春[Lì chūn] each year, rather than on one's birthday. / contrasted with 實歲|实岁[shí suì]

Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-5017db1eab93c5f2. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

虛歲 虚岁 [xu1 sui4] /one's age, according to the traditional Chinese method of reckoning (i.e. the number of Chinese calendar years in which one has lived) – In this system, a person's age at birth is one, and increases by one at the beginning of the first solar term 立春[Li4 chun1] each year, rather than on one's birthday./contrasted with 實歲|实岁[shi2 sui4]/

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Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 虛歲

虚
xū
emptiness / void / abstract theory or guiding principles / empty or unoccupied / diffident or timid / false / humble or modest / (of health) weak / virtual / in vain
岁
suì
variant of 歲|岁[suì], year / years old / classifier for years (of age) / year / year (of crop harvests)

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.