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The 12-hour clock is a time convention in which the 24 hours of the day are divided into two periods: a.m. (from Latin ante meridiem, translating to "before midday") and p.m. (from Latin post meridiem, translating to "after midday").
The United States uses the 12-hour clock almost exclusively, not only in spoken language, but also in writing, even on timetables, for airline tickets, and computer software. The suffixes "a.m." and "p.m." (often represented as AM and PM) are appended universally in written language.
The AM/PM system actually does have a specific abbreviation for noon—just the letter “M,” short for “meridiem,” which would come after “12” and only refer to noon. Haven’t heard of it?
The time-of-day abbreviations (which are generally lowercase only) are handled in various conflicting styles, including "a.m." and "p.m." with a space between the time and the abbreviation ("1.45 p.m."); [8] "am" and "pm" with a space ("1.45 pm" – recognised as an alternative usage by Oxford); [8] and the same without a space ("1.45pm ...
Punctuation and spacing styles differ, even within English-speaking countries (6:30 p.m., 6:30 pm, 6:30 PM, 6.30pm, etc.). [ citation needed ] Most people who live in countries that use one of the clocks dominantly are still able to understand both systems without much confusion; the statements "three o'clock" and "15:00", for example, are ...
Abbrev. [1]Meaning [1] Latin (or Neo-Latin) origin [1]; a.c. before meals: ante cibum a.d., ad, AD right ear auris dextra a.m., am, AM morning: ante meridiem: nocte ...
Usually, use noon and midnight rather than 12 pm and 12 am; whether "midnight" refers to the start or the end of a date should be explicitly specified unless clear from the context. Where several times that are all a.m. or all p.m. appear in close proximity, then a.m. or p.m. need be given only once if there is no risk of confusion.
q.AM: every day before noon (from Latin quaque die ante meridiem) q.d. every day (from Latin quaque die) q.d.s. four times each day (from Latin quater die sumendus) q.h. each hour (from Latin quaque hora) q.h.s. every bedtime (from Latin quaque hora somni) q.i.d. four times each day (from Latin quater in die)