noon
Americannoun
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twelve o'clock in the daytime.
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the highest, brightest, or finest point or part.
the noon of one's career.
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Archaic. midnight.
the noon of night.
noun
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the middle of the day; 12 o'clock in the daytime or the time or point at which the sun crosses the local meridian
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( as modifier )
the noon sun
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poetic the highest, brightest, or most important part; culmination
Etymology
Origin of noon
before 900; Middle English none, Old English nōn < Latin nōna ninth hour. See none 2
Explanation
Noon is twelve o'clock in the middle of the day. Many people sit down to eat lunch right at noon. You can also call noon midday, and its opposite is midnight — also twelve o'clock, but falling in the middle of the night. The word noon comes from a Latin root, nona hora, or "ninth hour." In medieval times, noon fell at three PM, nine hours after a monk's traditional rising hour of six o'clock in the morning. Over time, as noon came to be synonymous in English with midday, its timing changed to twelve PM.
Vocabulary lists containing noon
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
As of Friday noon, public broadcaster NHK reported an additional two people died, putting the total death toll at six.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
That balance places Earth's cusp close to local high noon.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026
The Saturday morning calm at Catalina Island Health’s two-bed emergency room was broken just before noon, when two tourists with arm injuries burst in within minutes of one another.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
People start lining up at noon before Friday’s seafood night, $52.95 and up, starts at 3 p.m.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
The following day, Sunday, June 21, at noon, the phone rang.
From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
