Noon
Encyclopedia
Noon is usually defined as 12 o'clock in the daytime. The word noon is also used informally to mean midday regarding the location of the sun not the middle of a persons day. Although this is a time around the middle of the day when people in many countries take a lunch break. Solar noon is 12 o'clock apparent solar time, or around 12 - 1pm Local time depending on daylight savings, the moment when the sun crosses the meridian and is about at its highest elevation in the sky. The clock time of solar noon depends on the longitude and date.
The opposite
of noon is midnight
.
In the northern hemisphere, "noon" had an ancient geographic association with "south" (as did midnight with "north"). Remnants of the "noon" association are preserved in the words for "noon" in French ("midi") and Italian ("mezzogiorno"), both of which also refer to the southern parts of the respective countries. Modern Polish and Ukrainian go a step farther, with the words for noon ("południe", "полудень" -- literally "half-day") also meaning "south" and the words for "midnight" ("północ", "північ" -- literally "half-night") also meaning "north".
meridian
-- roughly the time when it highest above the horizon on that day. This is also the origin of the terms ante meridiem
and post meridiem
as noted below. The Sun is directly overhead at solar noon at the equator
on the equinox
es; at Tropic of Cancer
(latitude
23° 26′ 22″ N) on the June solstice
; and at Tropic of Capricorn
(23° 26′ 22″ S) on the December solstice.
Muslims called solar noon as Zawwal (زوال) and is the time by which they can start offering their Dhuhr
prayers.
, both noon and its opposite, midnight
, form an axis linking the mundane world with otherworld
s by being apogee of light and darkness, respectively. Thus, noon is associated with heaven
, order and life
.
manifests itself and epiphanies
were most likely. Thus, a noon prayer
, healing
practice and ritual magic
were thought to be most effective - if their intentions were related to themes associated with day, of course. Also, numerous plants, animals, substances and other items harvested at noon were believed to have special, magical qualities and powers helpful in ritual practices.
, as Otherworlds themselves are still and static. It was thought that at noon, Otherworld pristine conditions were present, bringing the state of primordial chaos
to the world.
This resulted in the taboo
of working at noon, as work
is associated with culture
and civilization
and therefore anathema
to nature
and chaos. So, the act of working at noon is viewed as human will contradicting the natural (or God-given) order. As a result, in folklore
there is widespread belief that working at noon is vainly and even harmful.
, from Islamic
and Jewish
, where they were represented by dust devil
s, to Slavic mythology
, where all sorts of poludnicas, wilas, and topielec
s haunted the offending folk at noon. They universally caused hyperthermia
resulting in aches, maddness or drowning.
Digital clocks and computers commonly display 12 p.m. for noon. While that phrase may be used practically, it helps to understand that any particular time is actually an instant. The "p.m." shown on clock displays refers to the 12-hour period following the instant of noon, not to the instant itself.
While computers and digital clocks display "12:00 a.m." and "12:00 p.m." these notations provide no clear and unambiguous way to distinguish between midnight and noon. It is actually improper to use "a.m." and "p.m." when referring to 12:00. The abbreviation a.m. stands for ante meridiem (or before the meridian) and p.m. stands for post meridiem (or after the meridian), with the meridian being 12:00 noon. For this reason, neither abbreviation is correct for noon or midnight. The length of the error is determined by the smallest unit of time: 12:00:01 p.m. would be correctly notated, as would even 12:00:00.00001 pm.
The most common ways to represent these times are, (a) to use a 24-hour clock (00:00 and 12:00, 24:00), (b) to use "12 noon" or "12 midnight," although unless the person is referring to a general time and not a specific day, "12 midnight" is still ambiguous, (c) to specify midnight as between two successive days or dates (Midnight Saturday/Sunday or Midnight December 14/15), and (d) to use "12:01 a.m." or "11:59 p.m." This final usage is common in the travel industry, especially train and plane schedules, to avoid confusion as to passengers' schedules.
The 30th edition of the U.S. Government Style Manual (2008) sections 9.54 and 12.9b recommends the use of "12 a.m." for midnight and "12 p.m." for noon.The 29th edition of the U.S. Government Printing Office Style Manual (2000) section 12.9 recommended the opposite the use of "12 p.m." for midnight and "12 a.m." (formerly "12 m.") for noon.
The opposite
Antonym
In lexical semantics, opposites are words that lie in an inherently incompatible binary relationship as in the opposite pairs male : female, long : short, up : down, and precede : follow. The notion of incompatibility here refers to the fact that one word in an opposite pair entails that it is not...
of noon is midnight
Midnight
Midnight is the transition time period from one day to the next: the moment when the date changes. In the Roman time system, midnight was halfway between sunset and sunrise, varying according to the seasons....
.
In the northern hemisphere, "noon" had an ancient geographic association with "south" (as did midnight with "north"). Remnants of the "noon" association are preserved in the words for "noon" in French ("midi") and Italian ("mezzogiorno"), both of which also refer to the southern parts of the respective countries. Modern Polish and Ukrainian go a step farther, with the words for noon ("południe", "полудень" -- literally "half-day") also meaning "south" and the words for "midnight" ("północ", "північ" -- literally "half-night") also meaning "north".
Etymology
The word "noon" is derived from Latin nona hora, the ninth hour of the day, and is related to the liturgical term none. The Roman and Western European medieval monastic day began at 6:00 am (0600) by modern timekeeping, so the ninth hour started at what is now 3:00 pm (1500). In English, the meaning of the word shifted to midday and the time gradually moved back to 12:00. The change began in the twelfth century and was fixed by the fourteenth century.Solar noon
Solar noon is the moment when the Sun transits the celestialAstronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
meridian
Meridian (astronomy)
This article is about the astronomical concept. For other uses of the word, see Meridian.In the sky, a meridian is an imaginary great circle on the celestial sphere. It passes through the north point on the horizon, through the celestial pole, up to the zenith, through the south point on the...
-- roughly the time when it highest above the horizon on that day. This is also the origin of the terms ante meridiem
12-hour clock
The 12-hour clock is a time conversion convention in which the 24 hours of the day are divided into two periods called ante meridiem and post meridiem...
and post meridiem
12-hour clock
The 12-hour clock is a time conversion convention in which the 24 hours of the day are divided into two periods called ante meridiem and post meridiem...
as noted below. The Sun is directly overhead at solar noon at the equator
Equator
An equator is the intersection of a sphere's surface with the plane perpendicular to the sphere's axis of rotation and containing the sphere's center of mass....
on the equinox
Equinox
An equinox occurs twice a year, when the tilt of the Earth's axis is inclined neither away from nor towards the Sun, the center of the Sun being in the same plane as the Earth's equator...
es; at Tropic of Cancer
Tropic of Cancer
The Tropic of Cancer, also referred to as the Northern tropic, is the circle of latitude on the Earth that marks the most northerly position at which the Sun may appear directly overhead at its zenith...
(latitude
Latitude
In geography, the latitude of a location on the Earth is the angular distance of that location south or north of the Equator. The latitude is an angle, and is usually measured in degrees . The equator has a latitude of 0°, the North pole has a latitude of 90° north , and the South pole has a...
23° 26′ 22″ N) on the June solstice
Solstice
A solstice is an astronomical event that happens twice each year when the Sun's apparent position in the sky, as viewed from Earth, reaches its northernmost or southernmost extremes...
; and at Tropic of Capricorn
Tropic of Capricorn
The Tropic of Capricorn, or Southern tropic, marks the most southerly latitude on the Earth at which the Sun can be directly overhead. This event occurs at the December solstice, when the southern hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun to its maximum extent.Tropic of Capricorn is one of the five...
(23° 26′ 22″ S) on the December solstice.
Muslims called solar noon as Zawwal (زوال) and is the time by which they can start offering their Dhuhr
Dhuhr
The dhuhr prayer is the prayer after midday Performed daily by practicing Muslims, it is the second of the five daily prayers...
prayers.
Cultural meanings
In traditional magical thinkingMagical thinking
Magical thinking is causal reasoning that looks for correlation between acts or utterances and certain events. In religion, folk religion, and superstition, the correlation posited is between religious ritual, such as prayer, sacrifice, or the observance of a taboo, and an expected benefit or...
, both noon and its opposite, midnight
Midnight
Midnight is the transition time period from one day to the next: the moment when the date changes. In the Roman time system, midnight was halfway between sunset and sunrise, varying according to the seasons....
, form an axis linking the mundane world with otherworld
Otherworld
Otherworld, or the Celtic Otherworld, is a concept in Celtic mythology that refers to the home of the deities or spirits, or a realm of the dead.Otherworld may also refer to:In film and television:...
s by being apogee of light and darkness, respectively. Thus, noon is associated with heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
, order and life
Life
Life is a characteristic that distinguishes objects that have signaling and self-sustaining processes from those that do not, either because such functions have ceased , or else because they lack such functions and are classified as inanimate...
.
Touching the sacrum
Central points of day and night were seen as moments when sacrumSacrum
In vertebrate anatomy the sacrum is a large, triangular bone at the base of the spine and at the upper and back part of the pelvic cavity, where it is inserted like a wedge between the two hip bones. Its upper part connects with the last lumbar vertebra, and bottom part with the coccyx...
manifests itself and epiphanies
Epiphany (feeling)
An epiphany is the sudden realization or comprehension of the essence or meaning of something...
were most likely. Thus, a noon prayer
Prayer
Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of...
, healing
Healing
Physiological healing is the restoration of damaged living tissue, organs and biological system to normal function. It is the process by which the cells in the body regenerate and repair to reduce the size of a damaged or necrotic area....
practice and ritual magic
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
were thought to be most effective - if their intentions were related to themes associated with day, of course. Also, numerous plants, animals, substances and other items harvested at noon were believed to have special, magical qualities and powers helpful in ritual practices.
Sun resting
As it seems, the Sun stops its voyage at noon, where it was thought to rest for a while. Some believe this stillness sacredSacred
Holiness, or sanctity, is in general the state of being holy or sacred...
, as Otherworlds themselves are still and static. It was thought that at noon, Otherworld pristine conditions were present, bringing the state of primordial chaos
Chaos (cosmogony)
Chaos refers to the formless or void state preceding the creation of the universe or cosmos in the Greek creation myths, more specifically the initial "gap" created by the original separation of heaven and earth....
to the world.
This resulted in the taboo
Taboo
A taboo is a strong social prohibition relating to any area of human activity or social custom that is sacred and or forbidden based on moral judgment, religious beliefs and or scientific consensus. Breaking the taboo is usually considered objectionable or abhorrent by society...
of working at noon, as work
Employment
Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as:- Employee :...
is associated with culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
and civilization
Civilization
Civilization is a sometimes controversial term that has been used in several related ways. Primarily, the term has been used to refer to the material and instrumental side of human cultures that are complex in terms of technology, science, and division of labor. Such civilizations are generally...
and therefore anathema
Anathema
Anathema originally meant something lifted up as an offering to the gods; it later evolved to mean:...
to nature
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general...
and chaos. So, the act of working at noon is viewed as human will contradicting the natural (or God-given) order. As a result, in folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
there is widespread belief that working at noon is vainly and even harmful.
Demons of noon
Persons breaking the taboo of working at noon were subject to chastisement by demons of noon. They are present in many mythologiesMythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
, from Islamic
Islamic mythology
Islamic mythology is the body of traditional narratives associated with Islam from a mythographical perspective. Many Muslims believe that these narratives are historical and sacred and contain profound truths...
and Jewish
Jewish mythology
Jewish mythology is generally the sacred and traditional narratives that help explain and symbolize the Jewish religion, whereas Jewish folklore consists of the folk tales and legends that existed in the general Jewish culture. There is very little early folklore distinct from the aggadah literature...
, where they were represented by dust devil
Dust devil
A dust devil is a strong, well-formed, and relatively long-lived whirlwind, ranging from small to large . The primary vertical motion is upward...
s, to Slavic mythology
Slavic mythology
Slavic mythology is the mythological aspect of the polytheistic religion that was practised by the Slavs before Christianisation.The religion possesses many common traits with other religions descended from the Proto-Indo-European religion....
, where all sorts of poludnicas, wilas, and topielec
Topielec
Topielec , Vodník or Utopiec is a name applied to Slavic spirits of water. The topielce are spirits of human souls that died drowning, residing in the element of their own demise. They are responsible for sucking people into swamps and lakes as well as killing the animals standing near the still...
s haunted the offending folk at noon. They universally caused hyperthermia
Hyperthermia
Hyperthermia is an elevated body temperature due to failed thermoregulation. Hyperthermia occurs when the body produces or absorbs more heat than it can dissipate...
resulting in aches, maddness or drowning.
Nomenclature
With 12-hour time notation, most authorities recommend avoiding confusion by using "noon," "12 noon," or "12:00 noon."Digital clocks and computers commonly display 12 p.m. for noon. While that phrase may be used practically, it helps to understand that any particular time is actually an instant. The "p.m." shown on clock displays refers to the 12-hour period following the instant of noon, not to the instant itself.
While computers and digital clocks display "12:00 a.m." and "12:00 p.m." these notations provide no clear and unambiguous way to distinguish between midnight and noon. It is actually improper to use "a.m." and "p.m." when referring to 12:00. The abbreviation a.m. stands for ante meridiem (or before the meridian) and p.m. stands for post meridiem (or after the meridian), with the meridian being 12:00 noon. For this reason, neither abbreviation is correct for noon or midnight. The length of the error is determined by the smallest unit of time: 12:00:01 p.m. would be correctly notated, as would even 12:00:00.00001 pm.
The most common ways to represent these times are, (a) to use a 24-hour clock (00:00 and 12:00, 24:00), (b) to use "12 noon" or "12 midnight," although unless the person is referring to a general time and not a specific day, "12 midnight" is still ambiguous, (c) to specify midnight as between two successive days or dates (Midnight Saturday/Sunday or Midnight December 14/15), and (d) to use "12:01 a.m." or "11:59 p.m." This final usage is common in the travel industry, especially train and plane schedules, to avoid confusion as to passengers' schedules.
The 30th edition of the U.S. Government Style Manual (2008) sections 9.54 and 12.9b recommends the use of "12 a.m." for midnight and "12 p.m." for noon.The 29th edition of the U.S. Government Printing Office Style Manual (2000) section 12.9 recommended the opposite the use of "12 p.m." for midnight and "12 a.m." (formerly "12 m.") for noon.
See also
- 12-hour clock12-hour clockThe 12-hour clock is a time conversion convention in which the 24 hours of the day are divided into two periods called ante meridiem and post meridiem...
- DipleidoscopeDipleidoscopeA dipleidoscope is an instrument used to determine true noon. It consists of a small telescope and a prism that creates a double image of the sun. When the two images overlap, it is local true noon...
- MidnightMidnightMidnight is the transition time period from one day to the next: the moment when the date changes. In the Roman time system, midnight was halfway between sunset and sunrise, varying according to the seasons....
- Hour angleHour angleIn astronomy and celestial navigation, the hour angle is one of the coordinates used in the equatorial coordinate system to give the position of a point on the celestial sphere....
- Solar azimuth angleSolar azimuth angleThe solar azimuth angle is the azimuth angle of the sun. It is most often defined as the angle from due north in a clockwise direction.It can be calculated in various way. In different times, it has been explained in different ways. It can be calculated, to a good approximation, using the following...