1. a lunar year in which the last month has 29 days
这一解释出于《上海译文汉英大辞典》，意思指农历腊月是小建的年份，也就是说，农历腊月只有29天，没有年三十的年份。同时《外研社汉英双语现代汉语词典》中也有类似解释。
2. festival on the 23rd or 24th of the 12th month of the lunar year, when sacrifices are made to the kitchen god
《汉英词典》中出现的对于小年的解释。意思是，此节在腊月二十三或二十四日，意味祭灶。
3. Minor Spring Festival或Minor Chinese New Year
对于小年用英语怎么说,有人建议可以用Minor New Year，但New Year显然不是春节的意思。
那么，小年究竟做什么呢?
1. In one of the most distinctive traditions of the Minor Spring Festival is the burning of a paper image of the Kitchen god, dispatching the god’s spirit to Heaven to report on the family’s conduct over the past year. The Kitchen god is then welcomed back by to the home through the pasting of a new paper image of him beside the stove. From this vantage point, the Kitchen god will oversee and protect the household for another year.
小年节最具特色的传统之一就是焚烧灶神的纸像，将灶神的灵魂送上天堂，汇报这家人过去一年的行为。然后，通过在灶台旁粘贴一张新的灶神画像，灶神回到了家中。从这个有利的位置，灶神将监督和保护家庭另一年。
2. Between Laba Festival, on the eighth day of the last lunar month, and Minor Spring Festival, on the twenty-third day, families throughout China undertake a thorough house cleaning, sweeping out the old in preparation for the New Year.
在腊八节(最后一个月的第八天)和小年春节(第二十三天)之间，中国各地的家庭都会进行大扫除，为新年做准备。
3. In Minor Spring Festival, old couplets and paper-cuts from the previous year would betaken down, and new window decorations, New Year’s posters, and auspicious decorations are pasted up.
在小年节，人们会贴上一年的旧对联和剪纸，贴新窗花、年画和吉祥的装饰物。
4. As the old Chinese saying goes, whether the rich or the poor, have a haircut before the Spring Festival. The activity of taking a bath and having a haircut are often taken on the Minor Spring Festival.
中国有句老话，无论贫富，春节前都要理发。洗澡和理发的活动通常是在小的春节。
5. People start to stock up necessary provisions for the Spring Festival since Minor Spring Festival. Everything needed to make offerings to the ancestors, entertain guests, and feed the family over the long holiday must be purchased in advance.
从小春节开始，人们就开始储备过年的必需品。在这个漫长的节日里，祭祖、招待客人、供养家人所需要的一切东西都必须提前购买。
小年来历：
关于小年的由来
主要与民间传说中的灶王爷有关
传说灶王爷名叫张单
本是民间的一个俊俏公子
张单娶妻后性格大变
成天游手好闲
最后落得个沿街乞讨的下场
一天，张单在乞讨时走到了前妻家中
见到妻子后，张单羞愧难当
一头钻进了灶台被大火烧死
玉帝知道此事后，认为张单知道羞愧
便把他封为了灶神掌管民间
并让他每年腊月二十三日上天汇报
百姓知道此事后
纷纷在腊月二十三日这天祭拜灶神
希望灶王爷上天后能够多汇报家里的好事
所以民间便有了
上天言好事，回宫降吉祥的俗语
久而久之
腊月二十三日就成了送灶神的日子
也被人们称为小年夜
