hour

hour
hourless, adj.
/oweur, ow"euhr/, n.
1. a period of time equal to one twenty-fourth of a mean solar or civil day and equivalent to 60 minutes: He slept for an hour.
2. any specific one of these 24 periods, usually reckoned in two series of 12, one series from midnight to noon and the second from noon to midnight, but sometimes reckoned in one series of 24, from midnight to midnight: He slept for the hour between 2 and 3 A.M. The hour for the bombardment was between 1300 and 1400.
3. any specific time of day; the time indicated by a timepiece: What is the hour?
4. a short or limited period of time: He savored his hour of glory.
5. a particular or appointed time: What was the hour of death? At what hour do you open?
6. a customary or usual time: When is your dinner hour?
7. the present time: the man of the hour.
8. hours,
a. time spent in an office, factory, or the like, or for work, study, etc.: The doctor's hours were from 10 to 4. What an employee does after hours is his or her own business.
b. customary time of going to bed and getting up: to keep late hours.
c. (in the Christian church) the seven stated times of the day for prayer and devotion.
d. the offices or services prescribed for these times.
e. a book containing them.
9. distance normally covered in an hour's traveling: We live about an hour from the city.
10. Astron. a unit of measure of right ascension representing 15°, or the twenty-fourth part of a great circle.
11. a single period, as of class instruction or therapeutic consultation, usually lasting from 40 to 55 minutes. Cf. clock-hour.
12. Educ. Also called credit hour. one unit of academic credit, usually representing attendance at one scheduled period of instruction per week throughout a semester, quarter, or term.
13. the Hours, Class. Myth. the Horae.
14. one's hour,
a. Also, one's last hour. the instant of death: The sick man knew that his hour had come.
b. any crucial moment.
adj.
15. of, pertaining to, or noting an hour.
[1175-1225; ME (h)oure < AF; OF (h)ore < L hora < Gk hóra time, season]

* * *

▪ unit of time
      in timekeeping, 3,600 seconds, now defined in terms of radiation emitted from atoms of the element cesium under specified conditions. The hour was formerly defined as the 24th part of a mean solar dayi.e., of the average period of rotation of the Earth relative to the Sun. The hour of sidereal time, 1/24 of the Earth's rotation period relative to the stars, was about 10 seconds shorter than the hour of mean solar time.

      In even earlier systems of timekeeping, an hour was 1/12 of a period of daylight or darkness—hence, variable in length with seasonal changes in the length of day and night. The custom of dividing the cycle of day and night into 24 periods seems to have originated with the ancient (Egypt, ancient) Egyptians.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?
Synonyms:

Look at other dictionaries:

  • hour — W1S1 [auə US aur] n ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 1¦(60 minutes)¦ 2¦(business/work etc)¦ 3 (work) long/regular etc hours 4¦(time of day)¦ 5¦(long time)¦ 6¦(o clock)¦ 7 1300/1530/1805 etc hours 8 by the hour/from hour to hour 9 lunch/din …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • hour — [ aur ] noun *** ▸ 1 60 minutes of time ▸ 2 a long time ▸ 3 time in which you do something ▸ 4 particular time of day ▸ 5 point in history/life ▸ 6 exact time ▸ + PHRASES 1. ) count a period of time that consists of 60 minutes. 30 minutes is… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • Hour — Hour, n. [OE. hour, our, hore, ure, OF. hore, ore, ure, F. heure, L. hora, fr. Gr. ?, orig., a definite space of time, fixed by natural laws; hence, a season, the time of the day, an hour. See {Year}, and cf. {Horologe}, {Horoscope}.] 1. The… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Hour 25 — was a radio program focusing on science fiction, fantasy, and science. It was broadcast on Pacifica radio station KPFK in Southern California from 1972 to 2000, and is now distributed over the Internet. It has featured numerous interviews with… …   Wikipedia

  • hour — [our] n. [ME < OFr hore < L hora < Gr hōra, hour, time, period, season < IE base * yē , year, summer (< * ei , to go) > YEAR] 1. a) a division of time, one of the twenty four parts of a day; sixty minutes b) one of the twelve… …   English World dictionary

  • hour|ly — «OWR lee», adjective, adverb. –adj. 1. done, happening, or counted every hour: »to give hourly doses of medicine. hourly weather reports on the radio. 2. coming very often; frequent: »hourly messages. 3. paid by the hour: »an hourly employee.… …   Useful english dictionary

  • hour — hour; hour·age; hour·less; hour·ly; …   English syllables

  • hour — ► NOUN 1) a period of time equal to a twenty fourth part of a day and night; 60 minutes. 2) a time of day specified as an exact number of hours from midnight or midday. 3) a period set aside for a particular purpose or activity. 4) a point in… …   English terms dictionary

  • hour — (hour) s. m. Espèce de hangar ou d atelier destiné à travailler le bois pour le sabotage, etc. HISTORIQUE    XIVe s. •   Hour de cloe, DU CANGE craticulatum..    XVe s. •   Quant ilz vindrent près, ilz trouverent que on y avoit fait grand nombre… …   Dictionnaire de la Langue Française d'Émile Littré

  • hour — mid 13c., from O.Fr. hore one twelfth of a day (sunrise to sunset), from L. hora hour, time, season, from Gk. hora any limited time, from PIE *yor a , from root *yer year, season (see YEAR (Cf. year)). Greek hora was a season; the season; in… …   Etymology dictionary

  • hour — index point (period of time) Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”