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12hourclockWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

12hourclock
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

The12hourclockisatimeconventioninwhichthe24hoursofthe
dayaredividedintotwoperiods:[1]a.m.(fromtheLatinante
meridiem,meaning"beforemidday")andp.m.(postmeridiem,
"aftermidday").[2]Eachperiodconsistsof12hoursnumbered:12
(actingaszero),[3]1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,and11.The24
hour/daycyclestartsat12midnight(oftenindicatedas12a.m.),runs
through12noon(oftenindicatedas12p.m.),andcontinuestothe
midnightattheendoftheday.

Clocksystem
12hour
24hour
midnight
(startofday)

00:00

12:00a.m.*
12:01a.m.

00:01

12:59a.m.

00:59

1:00a.m.

01:00

11:00a.m.

11:00

11:59a.m.

11:59

12noon
12:00p.m.*

12:00

12:01p.m.

12:01

12:59p.m.

12:59

1.1 Usebycountry

1:00p.m.

13:00

1.2 Computersupport

11:00p.m.

23:00

11:59p.m.

23:59

The12hourclockwasdevelopedovertimefromthemidsecond
millenniumBCtothe16thcenturyAD.

Contents
1 Historyanduse

2 Abbreviations
3 Relatedconventions
3.1 Typography
3.1.1 Encoding

midnight
(endofday)
shownasstartofnextday

24:00

*Seesection"Confusion
atnoonandmidnight"

3.2 Informalspeechandroundingoff
3.3 Formalspeechandtimestotheminute
4 Confusionatnoonandmidnight
5 Seealso
6 References
7 Externallinks

Historyanduse

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Thenaturalday/nightdivisionofacalendardayformsthefundamentalbasisastowhyeachdayissplit
intotwocycles.Originallythesewereonecyclewhichcouldbe
trackedbythepositionoftheSun(day)followedbyonecycle
whichcouldbetrackedbytheMoonandstars(night).Thiswould
eventuallyevolveintothetwo12hourperiodsthatstartedat
midnight(a.m.)andnoon(p.m.)whichareusedtoday.Noonitselfis
rarelyabbreviatedtoday,butifitis,itisdenotedM.[1]
The12hourclockcanbetracedbackasfarasMesopotamiaand
AncientEgypt:[4]BothanEgyptiansundialfordaytimeuse[5]and
anEgyptianwaterclockfornighttimeusewerefoundinthetombof
PharaohAmenhotepI.[6]Datingtoc.1500BC,theseclocksdivided
theirrespectivetimesofuseinto12hourseach.

ExeterCathedralAstronomical
Clock,showingthedoubleXII
numberingscheme

TheRomansalsouseda12hourclock:daylightwasdividedinto12
equalhours(of,thus,varyinglengththroughouttheyear)andthe
nightwasdividedintofourwatches.

Thefirstmechanicalclocksinthe14thcentury,iftheyhaddialsat
all,showedall24hours,usingthe24houranalogdial,influenced
byastronomers'familiaritywiththeastrolabeandsundial,andtheir
desiretomodeltheapparentmotionoftheSun.InNorthernEurope
thesedialsgenerallyusedthe12hournumberingschemeinRomannumerals,butshowedbotha.m.and
p.m.periodsinsequence.ThisisknownasthedoubleXIIsystem,andcanbeseenonmanysurviving
clockfaces,suchasthoseatWellsandExeter.ElsewhereinEurope,particularlyinItaly,numberingwas
morelikelytobebasedonthe24hoursystem(ItoXXIV),reflectingtheItalianstyleofcountingthe
hours.The12hourclockwasusedthroughouttheBritishempire.
Duringthe15thand16thcenturies,the12houranalogdialandtimesystemgraduallybecame
establishedasstandardthroughoutNorthernEuropeforgeneralpublicuse.The24houranalogdialwas
reservedformorespecializedapplications,suchasastronomicalclocksandchronometers.
Mostanalogclocksandwatchestodayusethe12hourdial,onwhichtheshorterhourhandrotatesonce
every12hoursandtwiceinoneday.Someanalogclockdialshaveaninnerringofnumbersalongwith
thestandard1to12numberedring.Thenumber12ispairedeitherwitha00ora24,whilethenumbers
1through11arepairedwiththenumbers13through23,respectively.Thismodificationallowsthe
clocktobereadalsointhe24hournotation.The12hourclockcanbefoundincountrieswherethe24
hourclockispreferred.

Usebycountry
Mainarticle:Dateandtimerepresentationbycountry
Inseveralcountriesthe12hourclockisthedominantwrittenandspokensystemoftime.Other
countriesusethe12hourclockmainlyinspokentime,whilethe24hournotationiswritten.Inmost
countriesthe12hourclockisusedinspeechalongsidethe24hourclock.
The12hourclockinspeechoftenusesphrasessuchasinthemorning,intheafternoon,intheevening,
andatnight.OutsideofEnglishspeakingcountries,thetermsa.m.andp.m.areseldomusedandoften
unknown.InEngland,thedescriptivephraseswereuniversaluntilrelativelyrecentlye.g.,Rider's

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BritishMerlinalmanacfor1795(publishedinLondon)[7]usesthem,andsodoesasimilaralmanacfor
1773.

Computersupport
Inmostcountries,computersbydefaultshowthetimein24hournotation.Mostoperatingsystems,
includingMicrosoftWindowsandUnixlikesystemssuchasLinuxandMacOS,activatethe12hour
notationbydefaultforalimitednumberoflanguageandregionsettings.
Thebehaviourcanbechangedbytheuser,forexampleinWindows
7"RegionandLanguage"settings.InWindows,AM/PMnotations
areindependentof12or24hournumbering,allowingtheclockto
display16:18:12PM,forexample.[8]

Abbreviations
TheLatinabbreviationsa.m.andp.m.(oftenwritten"am"and"pm",
"AM"and"PM",or"A.M."and"P.M.")areusedinEnglishand
Spanish.[9]TheequivalentsinGreekare..and..,respectively,
andinSinhala..(pe.va.)for(peravaru,pera
fore,pre)and..(pa.va.)for(pasvaru,pass
after,post).However,noonisrarelyabbreviatedinanyofthese
languages,noonnormallybeingwritteninfull.

Atypicalanalog12hourclock

Mostotherlanguageslackformalabbreviationsfor"beforenoon"
and"afternoon",andtheirusersusethe12hourclockonlyorally
andinformally.However,inmanylanguages,suchasRussianand
Hebrew,informaldesignationsareused,suchas"9inthemorning"
or"3inthenight".
Whenabbreviationsandphrasesareomitted,onemayrelyon
sentencecontextandsocietalnormstoreduceambiguity.For
example,ifoneschedulesanappointmentwithadoctorat"9:00",
onemaymean9:00am,butifasocialdanceisscheduledtobeginat
"9:00",itmaybeginat9:00p.m.

Atypicaldigital12houralarm
clockindicatingp.m.withadotto
theleftofthehour

Relatedconventions
Typography
Theterms"a.m."and"p.m."areabbreviationsoftheLatinantemeridiem(beforemidday)andpost
meridiem(aftermidday).Dependingonthestyleguidereferenced,theabbreviations"a.m."and"p.m."
arevariouslywritteninsmallcapitals("AM"and"PM"),uppercaseletters("AM"and"PM"),orlowercase
letters("am"and"pm").
Somestylebookssuggesttheuseofaspacebetweenthenumberandthea.m.orp.m.abbreviation.Style
guidesrecommendnotusinga.m.andp.m.withoutatimeprecedingit,[10]althoughdoingsocanbe
advantageouswhendescribinganeventthatalwayshappensbeforeorafternoon.
Thehour/minuteseparatorvariesbetweencountries:someuseacolon,othersuseaperiod(fullstop).
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Encoding
Therearesymbolsfor:
"a.m."U+33C2(HTML㏂)and
"p.m."U+33D8(HTML㏘)inUnicode.
TheyaremeanttobeusedonlywithChineseJapaneseKoreancharactersets,however,astheytakeup
exactlythesamespaceasoneChinesecharacter.

Informalspeechandroundingoff
Itiscommontoroundatimetothenearestfiveminutesandexpressthetimeassomanyminutespastan
hour(e.g.,5:05is"fivepastfive"or"fiveohfive",formerlywrittenas5.5insomepublicationsinthe
UK[11])orminutestoanhour(e.g.,5:55is"fivetosix").Theperiod15minutesisoftenexpressedas"a
quarter"(hence5:15is"aquarterpastfive")and30minutesisexpressedas"half"(hence5:30is"half
pastfive"ormerely"halffive").Thetime8:45isspokenas"(a)quarterto(orof,before,ortil)
nine".[12]Moreover,insituationswheretherelevanthourisobviousorhasbeenrecentlymentioned,
speakerscanstatesimply"quarterto","halfpast",etc.,toavoidelaboratesentencesinparticularly
informalconversations.Thisformisalsousedintelevisionandradiobroadcaststhatcovermultipletime
zoneswhichareatonehourintervals.
Insteadofmeaning5:30,the"halffive"expressionissometimesusedtomean4:30,i.e.,"halfwayto
five",especiallyinthemoreGermaninfluencedpartsoftheU.S.A(theMidwest,essentially).The"half
waytofive"meaningfollowstheusageinmanyGermanicandSlaviclanguagesandinDutch,Finnish,
HungarianandIndonesian.

Formalspeechandtimestotheminute
Minutesmaybeexpressedasanexactnumberofminutespastthehourspecifyingthetimeofday(e.g.,
6:32p.m.is"sixthirtytwo")whenexpressingthetimeusingthe"past(after)"or"to(before)"formula,
itisconventionaltochoosethenumberofminutesbelow30(e.g.,6.32pmisconventionally"twenty
eightminutestoseven"ratherthan"thirtytwominutespastsix").
Timesofdayendingin":00"minutes(fullhours)areoftensaidinEnglishasthenumberedhour
followedbyo'clock(10:00asteno'clock,2:00astwoo'clock).Thismaybefollowedbythe"a.m."or
"p.m."designator,thoughphrasessuchasinthemorning,intheafternoon,intheevening,oratnight
morecommonlyfollowanalogstyletermssuchaso'clock,halfpastthree,andquartertofour.O'clock
itselfmaybeomitted,tellingatimeasfoura.m.orfourp.m.Minutes":01"to":09"areusually
pronouncedasohonetoohnine(noughtorzerocanalsobeusedinsteadofoh).Minutes":10"to":59"
arepronouncedastheirusualnumberwords.Forinstance,6:02a.m.canbepronouncedsixohtwoa.m.
6:32a.m.couldbetoldassixthirtytwoa.m.

Confusionatnoonandmidnight
Itisnotalwaysclearwhattimes"12:00a.m."and"12:00p.m."denote.FromtheLatinwordsmeridies
(midday),ante(before)andpost(after),thetermantemeridiem(a.m.)meansbeforemiddayandpost
meridiem(p.m.)meansaftermidday.Sincestrictlyspeaking"noon"(middaymeridies(m.))isneither
beforenorafteritself,thetermsa.m.andp.m.donotapply.[17]
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TheAmerican
Heritage
Dictionaryofthe
EnglishLanguage
hasausagenoteon
thistopic:"By
convention,12AM
denotesmidnight
and12PMdenotes
noon.Becauseof
thepotentialfor
confusion,itis
advisabletouse12
noonand12
midnight."[18]
E.G.Richardsin
hisbookMapping
Timeprovideda
diagraminwhich
12a.m.means
noonand12p.m.
means
midnight.[19]

12hourclockWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Timeasdenotedbyvariousdevicesorstyles
Midnight
Deviceorstyle
Noon

Midnight

startofday

endofday

Written24hourtime,
includingISO8601

00:00

12:00

24:00

24hourdigitalclocks

00:00

12:00

12hourdigitalclocks
witha.m.andp.m.

12:00a.m.

12:00p.m. *

12:00a.m.
12midnight

12:00p.m.
12midnight
12noon

Written12hourtime
(mostcommonforms)

U.S.GovernmentPrintingOffice[13] 12a.m.

12p.m.

U.S.GovernmentPrintingOffice
(1953)

12:00a.m.

12:00p.m.

Japaneselegalconvention[14]

0:00a.m.

12:00a.m.

12:00p.m.

Unusual

12:00m.[15]

CanadianPress,UKstandard,NIST1
midnight

noon

midnight

NIST2

12:00midnight 12:00noon 12:00midnight

AssociatedPressStyle[16]

12:01a.m.

noon

U.S.defactolegal

12:01a.m.

11:59p.m.

Midnight
Midnight
ManyU.S.style
[1]
December11
12M
December12
EncyclopdiaBritannica
guides,andNIST's
12
13
"Frequentlyasked
questions(FAQ)"
*Digitalclocksusuallydonotreachmidnightattheendoftheday.Insteadthey
[17]
wrapfrom11:59p.m.or23:59tomidnightatthestartofthenextday.
webpage,
Likewisethewritten12hourstylewrapsimmediatelytothestartofthenextday.
recommendthatit
Thesestylesareambiguouswithrespecttowhethermidnightisatthestartandor
isclearestifone
endofeachday.
refersto"noon"or
"12:00noon"and
"midnight"or"12:00midnight"(ratherthanto"12:00p.m."and"12:00a.m.").

TheCanadianPressStylebook(11thEdition,1999,page288)says,"writenoonormidnight,not12
noonor12midnight."Phrasessuchas"12a.m."and"12p.m."arenotmentionedatall.Britain's
NationalPhysicalLaboratory"FAQTime"webpage[20]states"Incaseswherethecontextcannotbe
reliedupontoplaceaparticularevent,thepairofdaysstraddlingmidnightcanbequoted"also"the
terms12a.m.and12p.m.shouldbeavoided."
Likewise,someU.S.styleguidesrecommendeitherclarifying"midnight"withothercontextclues,such
asspecifyingthetwodatesbetweenwhichitfalls,ornotreferringtomidnightatall.Foranexampleof
thelattermethod,"midnight"isreplacedwith"11:59p.m."fortheendofadayor"12:01a.m."forthe
startofaday.ThathasbecomecommonintheUnitedStatesinlegalcontractsandforairplane,bus,or
trainschedules,thoughsomeschedulesuseotherconventions.Occasionally,whentrainsrunataregular
intervals,thepatternmaybebrokenatmidnightbydisplacingthemidnightdepartureoneormore
minutes,suchasto23:59or00:01.[21]

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The24hourclocknotationavoidstheseambiguitiesbyusing00:00formidnightatthestartoftheday
and12:00fornoon.From23:59:59thetimeshifts(onesecondlater)to00:00:00,thebeginningofthe
nextday.In24hournotation24:00canbeusedtorefertomidnightattheendofaday.
InBritain,variousconventionsareemployed.TVmag,"Sun"newspaper,London,17December2005
uses"noon(12.00)"and"midnight(0.00)"inindividuallistings.Sequentiallistingsstartwitha.m.or
p.m.asappropriate,buttheseindicatorsarenotusedagain,althoughinsublistings"12midnight"is
sometimesemployed.TheLondonDailyTelegraphuses"12.00noon"and"12.00midnight"inindividual
listings.Insequentiallistingsthefirstprogrammetostartafter12.00ismarked"am"or"pm"as
appropriate.

Seealso
24hourclock
Clockposition
Dateandtimerepresentationbycountry
Decimaltime
Midnight
Noon
Thaisixhourclock

References
1. "Time".TheNewEncyclopdiaBritannica28.1986.pp.6602a.
"Time".EncyclopdiaBritannica.EncyclopdiaBritannicaOnlineLibraryEdition.Retrieved20November
2013.(subscriptionrequired)
"TheuseofAMorPMtodesignateeithernoonormidnightcancauseambiguity.Todesignatenoon,either
thewordnoonor1200or12Mshouldbeused.Todesignatemidnightwithoutcausingambiguity,thetwo
datesbetweenwhichitfallsshouldbegivenunlessthe24hournotationisused.Thus,midnightmaybe
written:May1516or2400May15or0000May16."
2. "NationalInstituteofStandardsandTechnology'sPhysicsLaboratory,TimeandFrequencyDivisionFAQ".
Retrieved28November2008.
3. SusanAddington."ModularArithmetic".Archivedfromtheoriginalon4July2008.Retrieved28November
2008.
4. TheHistoryofClocks
(http://web.archive.org/web/20081013135550/http://www.arcytech.org/java/clock/clock_history.html)
5. BerlininstrumentsoftheoldEgyptiantimeofdaydestination(http://members.aon.at/sundials/berlin
egypte.htm)
6. AWalkthroughTimeWaterClocks(http://physics.nist.gov/GenInt/Time/early.html)
7. NationalLibraryofAustraliacatalogueentry(http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/4881611)forRider'sBritish
merlin:fortheyearofOurLordGod1795
8. LawrenceAbrams(13December2012)."HowtocustomizehowthetimeisdisplayedinWindows".Bleeping
Computer.Retrieved26October2013.
9. Diccionariopanhispnicodedudas,HORA(http://buscon.rae.es/dpdI/SrvltGUIBusDPD?lema=hora2)
(Spanish)

10. Hacker,Diana,AWriter'sReference,sixedition,Bedford,StMartin's,Boston,2007,sectionM4c,p.308.
11. "TVTimes".2127May1983.Retrieved22April2012.
12. AmericanHeritageDictionary,3rded.(Boston:HoughtonMifflin,1992).s.v.usagenoteatendof"quarter"
entry.
13. U.S.GovernmentPrintingOfficeStyleManual:Chapter12Numerals(http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/GPO
STYLEMANUAL2008/html/GPOSTYLEMANUAL200814.htm)
14. http://jjy.nict.go.jp/QandA/FAQ/12amor0pmJ.html
15. ChicagoManualofStyle(16thed.).UniversityofChicagoPress.2010.paragraph9.29."Althoughnooncan
beexpressedas12:00m.(m=meridies),veryfewusethatform."
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16. Ed.NormGoldstein,TheAssociatedPressStylebookandBriefingonMediaLaw:withInternetGuideand
Glossary,P.161,177,PerseusPublishing,2002,Cambridge,Massachusetts,UnitedStates,LCCN
2002105974,ISBN,0738207403
17. "Timesofday,Frequentlyaskedquestions(FAQ)".NationalInstituteofStandardsandTechnology.18
January2011.Archivedfromtheoriginalon20120514.Retrieved3May2012.
18. AM(http://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=AM)attheAmericanHeritageDictionaryoftheEnglish
Language,FifthEdition(2011)
19. Richards,E.G.,MappingTime:theCalendaranditsHistory(OxfordUniversityPress,1999),289.
20. NationalPhysicalLaboratory,FAQTime(http://www.npl.co.uk/sciencetechnology/timefrequency/time/faqs)
21. Interimtraintimetables,AbellioGreaterAnglia,London,17May2015,pages7and8,availableat[1]
(http://www.abelliogreateranglia.co.uk/f/62130/62130.pdf).

Externallinks
NISTFAQontime(http://www.nist.gov/pml/div688/times.cfm)
12amisnooninJapan(http://longtailworld.blogspot.com/2006/04/japan1212amisnoonin
japan.html)
Retrievedfrom"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=12hour_clock&oldid=691472893"
Categories: Dateandtimerepresentation Timemeasurementsystems
Thispagewaslastmodifiedon20November2015,at01:44.
TextisavailableundertheCreativeCommonsAttributionShareAlikeLicenseadditionalterms
mayapply.Byusingthissite,youagreetotheTermsofUseandPrivacyPolicy.Wikipediaisa
registeredtrademarkoftheWikimediaFoundation,Inc.,anonprofitorganization.

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