hour
nounUK /aʊə/ · CA, US /aʊɚ/
Etymology From Middle English houre, hour, oure, from Old French houre, from Latin hōra (“hour”), from Ancient Greek ὥρα (hṓra, “any time or period, whether of the year, month, or day”), from Proto-Indo-European *yóh₁r̥ (“year, season”). Akin to Old English ġēar (“year”). Doublet of hora and year. Compare horary. Partly displaced native Old English tīd (“time, hour”), whence Modern English tide.
7 senses
- 1A unit of time of one twenty-fourth of a day (sixty minutes).
- 2A season, moment, or time.
- 3The time.
- 4Used after a two-digit hour and a two-digit minute to…
- 5The amount of labor demanded by an employer in terms of time.
- 6The set times of prayer, the canonical hours, the…
- 7A distance that can be traveled in one hour.
Time A unit of time of one twenty-fourth of a day (sixty minutes).
- Holonyms: day < week < megasecond < fortnight < month < year < gigasecond < century < kiloannum, kiloyear, millennium < terasecond < mega-annum, megayear < petasecond < giga-annum, gigayear < exasecond < zettasecond < yottasecond < ronnasecond < quettasecond
- Meronyms: quectosecond < rontosecond < yoctosecond < zeptosecond < attosecond < femtosecond < picosecond < nanosecond < microsecond < millisecond < centisecond < decisecond < second < decasecond < minute < hectosecond < kilosecond
4 more examples
- Near-synonym: microcentury (humorous approximation)
- I spent an hour at lunch.
- There's a bus at 20 past the hour.
- We still have a couple hours left to do in the yard.
A season, moment, or time.
- Don't come home ever again at this unearthly hour.
- From childhood's hour I have not been / As others were; I have not seen / As others saw; I could not bring / My passions from a common spring.c. 1829, Edgar Allan Poe, “Alone”, in Archived copy, archived from the original on 05 Apr 2017:
1 more example
- Now will be a good hour to show you Milly Erne's grave.1912 January, Zane Grey, chapter 3, in Riders of the Purple Sage […], New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC:
Poetic The time.
- The hour grows late and I must go home.
Government, Military, Politics, War In plural Used after a two-digit hour and a two-digit minute to indicate time.
- By 1300 hours the position was fairly clear.2000, T. C. G. James, edited by Sebastian Cox, The Battle of Britain, →ISBN:
In plural The amount of labor demanded by an employer in terms of time.
- I asked my manager for more hours.
- The shop wasn't giving me enough hours so I started searching for a second job.
Christianity In plural The set times of prayer, the canonical hours, the offices or services prescribed for these, or a book containing them.
US A distance that can be traveled in one hour.
- This place is an hour away from where I live.
- Derived terms
127 terms
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