年頭

• 読み: ねんとう
• ローマ字: nento
• 漢字の分解: 年 (nen/toshi) — year; 頭 (tou/atama) — head, beginning, start
• 発音: /nen.toː/

意味

The beginning of the year; the start of a new year. Used predominantly in formal greetings and official speeches delivered in January.

年頭 appears almost exclusively in formal or semi-formal contexts, most notably in 年頭所感 (New Year's reflections — official remarks published by politicians, executives, and public figures at the start of the year) and 年頭挨拶 (New Year's address). Distinct from 元旦 (New Year's Day) or お正月, it refers to the start-of-year period as a formal temporal marker rather than a festive occasion.

例文

1. 首相は年頭の記者会見で今年の経済政策の方針を述べた。
2. 年頭に立てた目標を、半年が過ぎてもまだ続けられている。
3. 社長は年頭所感の中で、従業員への感謝と新年度への抱負を語った。

使い方ガイド

場面: official speeches, business, journalism, New Year

トーン: formal

起源と歴史

Compound of 年 (year) + 頭 (head, beginning). 頭 in this sense means the beginning — cf. 月頭 (beginning of the month), 話の頭 (the opening of a story).

文化的背景

時代: Modern

世代: Adults (professional)

社会的背景: Professional