Among taxes paid to the feudal lord, what corresponded to the kanmotsu (rice harvested from the landlords' cultivation fields) in Kokugaryo (territories governed by provincial government offices) came to be called "nengu".
領主への貢納のうち、国衙領でいう官物にあたるもの（田地からの収穫米）が年貢と呼ばれるようになった。