hour

noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French ure, eure, from Late Latin & Latin; Late Latin hora canonical hour, from Latin, hour of the day, from Greek hōra — more at year Date: 13th century 1. a time or office for daily liturgical devotion; especially canonical hour 2. the 24th part of a day ; 60 minutes 3. a. the time of day reckoned in two 12-hour periods b. plural the time reckoned in one 24-hour period from midnight to midnight using a 4-digit number of which the first two digits indicate the hour and the last two digits indicate the minute <

in the military 4:30 p.m. is called 1630 hours

> 4. a. a customary or particular time <

lunch hour

> <

in our hour of need

>; also moment 1b <

hero of the hour

> b. plural time of going to bed <

keeps late hours

>; also time of working <

banker's hours

> 5. an angular unit of right ascension equal to 15 degrees measured along the celestial equator 6. the work done or distance traveled at normal rate in an hour <

the city was two hours away

> 7. a. a class session b. credit hour, semester hour