The 12-hour clock is a timekeeping convention in which the 24 hours of the day are divided into two periods called ante meridiem (AM, Latin for "before noon") and post meridiem (PM, Latin for "after noon"). Each period consists of 12 hours numbered 12, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. The AM period runs from midnight to noon, while the PM period runs from noon to midnight.

The 12-hour clock is especially common in the United States of America.

Usage

According to the actual meaning of ther terms ante meridiem (AM) and post meridiem (PM), as well as standards bodies such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology in the United States, noon (which falls precisely at the meridiem or celestial meridian) is neither AM nor PM, because noon is neither before nor after itself.

Despite this definitive logic, it is common practice in the United States to treat noon as 12:00 PM. This has been justified as a convention because 12:01 PM through 12:59 PM come immediately afterwards (or post) the meridiem. Following this logic, in the United States it is common practice to treat midnight (which also falls precisely at the celestial meridian) as 12:00 AM. These conventions nevertheless can be confusing, because the hour immediately following 11:00 AM is noon, not midnight.

As a result of the confusion (and technical inaccuracy) of these conventions, it is clearest if one refers to "noon" or "12:00 noon" (rather than to 12:00 PM) if one wishes to express a reference to midday. References to midnight remain problematic because its usage could refer either to the midnight at the start of the day referenced or the midnight at its end. (This problem occurs even if one employs the inaccurate and confusing term 12:00 AM). It is therefore best to employ additional context clues to indicate timing in such circumstances.

Some style policies suggest "12:00 N" for noon and "12:00 M" for midnight, but this conflicts with the older tradition of using "12:00 M" for noon (Latin meridiem), and "12:00 MN" for midnight (meridiem nochte). It also does nothing to correct the ambiguity inherent in references to midnight without additional context clues.

Because of the confusion possible with midnight, some legal contracts start or end at 12:01 AM, which removes the uncertainty. Similarly, airplane and train schedules avoid midnight, using 11:59 PM for arrivals and 12:01 AM for departures. Use of the 24-hour clock avoids this problem entirely.

Typography

The initialisms "AM" and "PM" are variously written in small capitals (as here), uppercase letters ("AM" and "PM"), or lowercase letters ("am" and "pm"). Additionally, some styles use periods (full stops), especially in combination with lowercase letters (thus "a.m." and "p.m.").

Style policies typically frown on use of a preceding zero in the hour; for example, "3:52 PM" is preferred over "03:52 PM" (which may confuse some people trained to use the 24-hour clock). However, the default modes of many digital clocks fail to respect this convention.

There are symbols for "AM" (㏂ = "㏂") and "PM" (㏘ = "㏘") in Unicode.

Pronunciation

Times of day ending in :00 minutes are typically pronounced in English as the numbered hour followed by o'clock (e.g., 10:00 ten o'clock, 2:00 two o'clock, 4:00 four o'clock etc) followed by the am or pm designator. :01 through :09 are usually pronounced as o one through o nine (though ought one through ought nine may still be in use in some Commonwealth countries. :10 through :59 are their usual number-words.

History

The 12-hour clock originated with the Egyptians. However, the lengths of their hours varied seasonally, always with 12 hours from dusk to dawn and 12 hours from dawn to dusk. The Romans also used a twelve-hour clock: the day was divided into twelve equal hours (of, thus, varying length throughout the year) and the night was divided into three watches. With solar time, before the advent of water clocks, there was no way to have a fixed hour.

When used by the Romans, the morning hours were originally numbered in reverse: what is now "9 am" was, for example, "3 am", or 3 hours ante meridiem.

See also

• 24-hour clock

External links

• NIST FAQ on time