Hour
Pronunciation
- UK enPR: owʹər, IPA: /ˈaʊə(ɹ)/
- US enPR: owr, IPA: /ˈaʊɚ/
- Rhymes: -aʊə(ɹ)
- Homophones: our depending on accent
Alternative forms
- hower archaic
Origin
Middle English houre, oure, from Anglo-Norman houre, from Old French houre, (h)ore, from Latin hÅra ("hour"), from Ancient Greek á½¥Ïα (hÅrÄ, "any time or period, whether of the year, month, or day"), from Proto-Indo-European *yer-, *yor- ("year, season"). Akin to Old English Ä¡Ä“ar ("year"). Displaced native Middle English stunde, stound ("hour, moment, stound") (from Old English stund ("hour, time, moment")), Middle English Èetid, tid ("hour, time") (from Old English *Ä¡etÄ«d, compare Old Saxon getÄ«d ("hour, time").
Noun
hour
(plural hours)- A time period of sixty minutes; one twenty-fourth of a day.I spent an hour at lunch.
- 1661, John Fell, The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. HammondDuring the whole time of his abode in the university he generally spent thirteen hours of the day in study; by which assiduity besides an exact dispatch of the whole course of philosophy, he read over in a manner all classic authors that are extant...
- A season, moment, time or stound.
- Edgar Allen Poe (1809-1849), Alone: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. - Grey Riders|3Now will be a good hour to show you Milly Erne's grave.
- (poetic) The time.The hour grows late and I must go home.
- (military, in the plural) Used after a two-digit hour and a two-digit minute to indicate time.
- T. C. G. James and Sebastian Cox, The Battle of Britain:By 1300 hours the position was fairly clear.
Synonyms
- stound obsolete