'Noon' means 'midday' or 12 o’clock during the day. ‘Midnight’ refers to 12 o’clock during the night. Simple right?
Well, maybe not, especially if you're using a 12-hour clock.
When most people say 12pm, typically they're talking about the middle of the day: 12 noon. When they say 12am, they normally mean 12 midnight.
While some people follow this convention, technically it's not quite right – as you'll see from the definition of am and pm below. To avoid any confusion (and to make sure you arrive on time), it might be best to say 12 noon or 12 midnight instead.
Additional resources:Alternatively, you could use the 24-hour clock system, where 12:00 is noon and 00:00 (or 24:00) is midnight.
These are the Harrison Marine Timekeepers, some of the most groundbreaking clocks ever made. See them on permanent display at the Royal Observatory GreenwichThe 12-hour clock divides the 24-hour day into two periods.
Noon is therefore neither 'ante' (am) nor 'post' (pm) meridiem. Midnight is also neither am nor pm.
There are no standards established for the meaning of 12am and 12pm. It is often said that 12am Monday is midnight on Monday morning and 12pm is midday. This puts all the times beginning with 12 and ending with am in the same one-hour block, similarly with those ending with pm.
It can also be argued that by the time you have seen a clock showing 12:00 at midday it is already post meridiem, and similarly at midnight it is already ante meridiem. Times in the first hour of the day are sometimes given as, for example, 00:47 am, with 00:00 am corresponding to midnight, but with a time twelve hours later given as 12:47 pm.
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