Meanings
a.m.1
alternative a. m. · alternative am · alternative AM · alternative A. M. · alternative A.M. · alternative US a · alternative US A
- not comparableIn the 12-hour period from midnight to noon (the first half of the day) when using the 12-hour clock.
Greenfield … Monday thru Friday, 9 to 12 a.m.
1967, United States Travel Service, Plant Tours for International Visitors to the United States, page 495 more examples
One of the most common night shifts is the 12 a.m.-to-8 a.m. shift.
2001, Customs Service effects of proposed legislation on officers' pay, United States General Accounting Office, page 45We never say 12 a.m. or 12 p.m. It's either 12 midnight or 12 noon, respectively.
2007, Khurana Rohit, Number Game 4, page 144The 12-hour clock uses A.M. for the morning hours of midnight (12:00 A.M.) to almost noon (11:59 A.M.) and the P.M. designation for the hours from noon (12:00 P.M.) to almost midnight (11:59 PM).
2009, Robert Bill, Medical Mathematics and Dosage Calculations for Veterinary Professionals, page 348The 12-hour clock, which is used in the U.S., Canada, and a few other countries, divides time into two cycles: a.m. (ante meridiem, Latin for before midday) from midnight, 12 a.m., to 11:59 a.m.; and p.m. (post meridiem, Latin for after midday) from noon, 12 p.m., to 11:59 p.m.
2015, Arhlene A. Flowers, Global Writing for Public Relations, page 141The following daylight peaks are identified around lunchtime, from 12 am to 1 pm, while for weekend days, the curve show several daylight peaks from 7 am to late lunchtime, around 1 pm.
2021, Jukka Heinonen, Ortzi Akizu-Gardoki, Sanna Ala-Mantila, Energy Efficient Cities of Today and Tomorrow, page 196Synonyms: in the forenoon
alternative a. m. · alternative am · alternative AM · alternative A. M. · alternative A.M. · alternative US a · alternative US A
- abbreviationinitialismnot comparableInitialism of ad modum.
A.M.2
plural A.M.s
- abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountableInitialism of anno mundi.
- abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountableInitialism of Master of Arts.
- alternativenot comparableAlternative form of a.m. (“before noon”).
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbIn the 12-hour period from midnight to noon (the first half of the day) when using the 12-hour clock.
More synonyms by meaning
adverbbefore 12 noon
adverbbefore 12 noon
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Abbreviation of ante meridiem (“before noon”).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic قَبْلَ الظُّهْر, صَبَاحًا
- قَبْلَ الظُّهْر (qabla ẓ-ẓuhr)before noon
- صَبَاحًا (ṣabāḥan)before noon
- ص (ṣ)before noon
Chinese Mandarin 上午
- 上午 (shàngwǔ)before noon
Czech dopoledne
- dopolednebefore noon
Dutch 's morgens, 's ochtends
- 's morgensbefore noon
- 's ochtendsbefore noon
Esperanto atm., a.t.m.
- atm.before noon
- a.t.m.before noon
Finnish ap., ap
- ap.before noon
- apbefore noon
- e. pp.before noon
French du matin, avant-midi
- du matinbefore noon
- avant-midibefore noon
German morgens, vormittags
- morgensbefore noon
- vormittagsbefore noon
Greek π.μ.
- π.μ.before noon
Hebrew לִפְנֵי הַצָּהֳרַיִם, לפנה״צ
- לִפְנֵי הַצָּהֳרַיִם (lifnéi ha-tzohoráyim)before noon
- לפנה״צbefore noon
Hindi सुबह के
- सुबह के (subah ke)before noon
Hungarian délelőtt
- délelőttbefore noon
Icelandic árdegis, fyrir hádegi
- árdegisbefore noon
- fyrir hádegibefore noon
- f.h.before noon
- a.m.before noon
Japanese 午前
- 午前 (gozen)before noon
Korean 오전, 오전에
- 오전 (ojeon)before noon
- 오전에 (ojeone)before noon
Malay pagi
- pagibefore noon
Persian پیشین, پیش از نیمروز
- پیشین (pišin)before noon
- پیش از نیمروز (piš az nimruz)before noon
- ق.ظbefore noon
Polish przed południem
- przed południembefore noon
Portuguese a.m., da manhã
- a.m.before noon
- da manhãbefore noon
Russian до полу́дня, но́чи
- до полу́дня (do polúdnja)before noon
- но́чи (nóči)before noon
- утра́ (utrá)before noon
Scottish Gaelic m, sa mhadainn
- mbefore noon
- sa mhadainnbefore noon
Spanish a. m., de la mañana
- a. m.before noon
- de la mañanabefore noon
Swedish fm
- fmbefore noon
Tagalog n.u.
- n.u.before noon
Turkish ÖÖ., öğleden önce
- ÖÖ.before noon
- öğleden öncebefore noon
Urdu صبح کے
- صبح کے (subah ke)before noon
Welsh y.b.
- y.b.before noon
Cite this entry
a.m.. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/a.m.
“a.m..” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/a.m.. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “a.m.,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/a.m..
Source: a.m. on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.