leveår

Leveår is a term used in Danish and Norwegian to indicate the number of completed years a person or animal has lived. It denotes age in years and is distinct from the calendar year. In practice, leveår is often synonymous with age, but the form of expression varies. Some contexts use the phrase “leveår” in formal records or genealogical writing to emphasize the lifespan rather than the specific calendar year.

In everyday language, people commonly express age as “år gammel” (years old). Leveår appears more frequently in statistical, administrative, or historical contexts where the focus is on the length of life or the age distribution of a population. Age can be refined with months or days, but leveår by itself refers to completed years since birth.

Leveår should not be confused with leap year. In Danish and Norwegian, leap year is skudår, a calendar concept describing an extra day added to February every four years. Leveår concerns time lived rather than calendar structure, and it does not involve any adjustment to the yearly calendar.

Usage and conventions can vary by country and register. In civil records for genealogical research, leveår may appear alongside or instead of explicit age measurements, helping to document the lifespan of individuals within historical populations. Overall, leveår serves as a natural unit for describing the length of life in years, separate from the mechanics of the calendar year.