yearrange

A yearrange is a span of calendar years used to designate a period. It is typically described by a start year and an end year and is usually interpreted as including both endpoints, though conventions can vary by context.

Common representations include formats such as start year–end year (for example, 1990–2000 or 1990-2000). For single-year periods, a lone year (1995) may be used, or the range 1995–1995. In some contexts, shorthand like the 1990s refers to the years 1990 through 1999. When seasons or terms cross calendar years, writers may adopt formats such as 2023–24 to indicate a span that begins in one year and ends in the next.

Yearranges appear in many areas. In historical research and bibliographies, they indicate the period a source covers or a document’s temporal scope. In data analysis and archiving, they serve to filter records by year and to summarize data over time. In publishing and media, yearranges mark edition windows or publication histories. In sports and academia, seasons that extend across two calendar years are commonly denoted with a hyphenated or dashed yearpair.

Challenges and variations include interpretation differences for open-ended or shorthand ranges (for example, 1990s or 2000s), cross-year periods, and calendars other than the common Gregorian system. In technical contexts, storing yearranges may involve separate start and end fields or a single combined range, with validation to ensure the end year is not earlier than the start year and normalization to a standard format.