Learning how to tell time is a basic part of growing up, but it’s not as easy as counting the numbers one through 12 (or 60). There are plenty of nuances and phrases that go into being able to answer the question, “What time is it?” For example, we know that “a quarter to 10” is 9:45, and “noon” means 12:00 during the day, not at night, but how did these timekeeping phrases become part of our vernacular? It’s time to find out.
What Time Is “It”?
When someone asks “what time is it?” — what exactly does “it” refer to? In English, the word “time” can encompass many things, from an occasion (“It was my first time at a concert”) to an era (“It was during Victorian times…”). “It” is the word we use to designate the time on the clock. When asking “What time is it?” we’re asking for the specific time of the day. This is a direct departure from many other languages, whose literal translations for asking for the time are a bit different from English:
- Spanish: Que hora es? (What hour is it?)
- Swedish: Vad är klockan? (What is the clock?)
- Dutch: Hoe laat is het? (How late is it?)
- Hebrew: מה השעה? (What is the hour?)
What Does “O’Clock” Mean?
“It is 1 o’clock.” We know this means it is one hour after noon or midnight, but why do we say it? The term “o’clock” is an adverb used after a numeral to indicate the time while referencing an imaginary clock face. It has been used since the early 18th century, when the phrase “of the clock” was first abbreviated. The earliest mechanical clocks were invented in Europe at the beginning of the 14th century, and the phrase “of the clokke” was in use starting around the mid-15th century.
“A Quarter To” or “A Quarter Of”
American English loves to shorten things, while sometimes simultaneously overcomplicating them. In this case, we’ve divided the 60 minutes of one hour into 15-minute quarters, a practice that has been in use since the early 19th century. “It’s 10:15” sounds short and sweet, but many people would rather say, “It’s a quarter past 10,” instead. Many do this in 10-minute intervals, too, so “It’s 10 to 10” means that it is 9:50.
Sometimes, however, “It’s 10 of 10” is used instead of “10 to 10.” Does this mean that it is 10 minutes before or after 10 o’clock? According to the dictionary, “of” means “before” — so “10 of 10” has the same meaning as “10 to 10.” Similarly, “It’s a quarter of 11” means it’s 10:45. This could be related to a format of stating the time from 17th-century England, as used in the expression, “It wants/lacks a quarter of 10.” This phrasing is most commonly used in the Northeast and Midwest, although it is still seen as archaic.
The History of “Noon” and “Midnight”
The evolution of “midnight” is simple. It comes from the Old English word mid-niht, meaning “the middle period of the night.” The history of its counterpart, “noon,” is more complicated. Today, we understand “noon” to be 12 o’clock in the afternoon, but that has not always been the case.
“Noon” is derived from the Old English word non, meaning “3 o’clock in the afternoon” or “the ninth hour from sunrise.” Sometime during the 12th century, the meaning of the word “noon” shifted from 3 p.m. to 12 p.m., and there are various suspected causes. Two possible (and simple) reasons could be the unreliability of medieval timekeeping and the seasonal changes of daylight hours. Another suspected cause points to monasteries, where fasting ended at “nones” on holy days, so there was an incentive to alter the time to end the fast earlier. The standard hour of the secular midday meal also shifted from late afternoon to early afternoon around this time, perhaps taking the word “noon” with it. To further complicate things, for a short period of time between the 17th and 19th centuries, “noon” could also mean “midnight,” which is where the phrase “noon of the night” arose.
When Did We Start Using “a.m.” and “p.m.”?
The 12-hour method of timekeeping was first introduced millennia ago by the Babylonians in ancient Mesopotamia. To avoid confusion in this method, a distinction must be made between daytime and nighttime hours, such as “10 in the morning” or “3 in the afternoon.” A new way to define the two halves of the day emerged in the mid-16th century with the Latin phrase ante meridiem, meaning “of morning,” from the words ante (meaning “before”) and meridies (meaning “midday”). By the mid-17th century, post meridiem appeared, meaning “occurring after the sun has passed the meridian.” The abbreviation of these phrases into “a.m.” and “p.m.” happened in the early 19th century. The 24-hour method of timekeeping is still used commonly outside of the United States, and in the U.S. military.
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