noon

noun

1
: midday
specifically : 12 o'clock at midday
2
archaic : midnight
used chiefly in the phrase noon of night
3
: the highest point

Examples of noon in a Sentence

The party will take place from noon to 4 p.m. He showed up at precisely 12 noon.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Start time Pre-race coverage commences at noon ET on USA Network and moves to NBC at 2:30 p.m. Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 3 May 2025 Early voting began April 8 in each city and ends at noon Monday. Carole Carlson, Chicago Tribune, 2 May 2025 Peacock is your one-stop destination for watching all things Kentucky Derby this Saturday, with coverage starting at noon right through the opening gate later that evening. Matt Richardson, CBS News, 2 May 2025 The lawyers plan to begin their protests across the U.S. at noon local time. Sophie Clark, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for noon

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Old English nōn ninth hour from sunrise, from Latin nona, from feminine of nonus ninth; akin to Latin novem nine — more at nine

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of noon was in the 13th century

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Cite this Entry

“Noon.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/noon. Accessed 7 May. 2025.

Kids Definition

noon

noun
: the middle of the day : 12 o'clock in the daytime
noon adjective
Etymology

Old English nōn "ninth hour from sunrise," derived from Latin nona, a feminine form of nonus "ninth," from novem "nine"

Word Origin
Noon has not always meant "12 o'clock in the daytime." In the ancient Roman way of keeping track of time, the hours of the day were counted from sunrise to sunset. The ninth hour of their day (about 3 p.m. nowadays) was called nona, Latin for "ninth." In the early period of English, the word was borrowed as nōn, also referring to the ninth hour after sunrise. By the 14th century, however, the word came to be used for midday, 12 o'clock, as we use it today.

More from Merriam-Webster on noon

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