Meaning & use
ante meridiem
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Meaning
phrasefixed phrase
A Latin expression meaning before noon, shown as a.m. after a clock time between midnight and midday.
Grammar: Almost always written as a.m. directly after the time: 7:30 a.m.
Patterns
- at 9 a.m.
- ten o'clock ante meridiem
The shop opens at 8 ante meridiem and closes at 6 post meridiem.
The old railway timetable listed the first train at 6:15 ante meridiem.
In formal invitations the hour may be printed as eleven o'clock ante meridiem.
Common combinations
- 6 a.m.
- The alarm rings at 6 a.m. every morning.
- ante meridiem and post meridiem
- The clock face did not show ante meridiem and post meridiem.
- 10:30 a.m.
- The meeting starts at 10:30 a.m. in the main hall.
- before 9 a.m.
- Orders placed before 9 a.m. arrive the same day.
Synonyms and how they differ
- a.m.
- A.m. is the usual written short form, used in nearly all everyday and business writing.
- in the morning
- In the morning is the normal spoken equivalent and is less exact about the hour than a.m.
- before noon
- Before noon is plain English and does not suggest the 12-hour clock the way ante meridiem does.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: ante meridiem or post meridiem? ante meridiem or ante?
ante meridiem vs post meridiem
Post meridiem means after noon and is the opposite, so 7 p.m. is evening and 7 a.m. is morning.
ante meridiem vs ante
An ante is the stake put into the pot in poker; it is a separate English word and does not relate to the time of day.
Practice
A train leaves at 7:45 a.m. This means it leaves at ______.
Choose one answer.
A.m. stands for ante meridiem, before noon, so 7:45 a.m. is a quarter to eight in the morning. The evening and night options would be p.m. times.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “ante meridiem”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.