Hours

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈaʊə(ɹ)z/

Definitions

1. A specific segment of time comprising 60 minutes, frequently utilized in organizing daily schedules, and serves as a standard unit reflecting time intervals in various settings
2. An allotted period of 60 minutes that is commonly used to measure time, organize tasks, and delineate segments of a day for various activities
3. A measure of time consisting of 60 minutes used to count or divide parts of a day ; a designated length of time during which work or other activities are scheduled or occur

Etymology: The hour was once a season of the year before it was a measure of the day. The Greek "hṓra" meant any fixed period, whether of the year, month or day, and it traces back to an ancient root meaning "year" or "season," which also gave English the word "year" through a shared ancestor. Latin borrowed the word as "hōra," and it reached English through Old French "houre" in the Middle Ages. English already had a word for this idea. Old English used "tīd," meaning "time" or "hour," and that word survives today as "tide," as in "Christmastide" or the ebb and flow of the sea. The newer borrowing gradually displaced it in the sense of a unit of time, while "tide" kept its place in older phrases and in the names of the sea's rhythms.

Synonyms: time, period, duration, span, interval

Antonyms: moments, seconds, instants, fleeting, minutes