am
verb
1st person singular present indicative of be.
Jump To:
am
1 American
[am, uhm, m]
/ æm, əm, m /
verb
Am
2
American
Symbol, Chemistry.
AM
3
American
abbreviation
-
Electronics. amplitude modulation: a method of impressing a signal on a radio carrier wave by varying its amplitude.
-
Radio. a system of broadcasting by means of amplitude modulation.
-
of, relating to, or utilizing such a system.
-
Asian male.
Am.
4
American
abbreviation
-
America.
-
American.
A/m
5
American
a.m.
6
American
abbreviation
-
before noon.
-
the period from midnight to noon, especially the period of daylight prior to noon.
Shall we meet Saturday a.m.?
-
a morning newspaper, sometimes issued shortly before midnight.
A.M.
7
American
Am
1
British
symbol
am
2
British
verb
AM
3
British
abbreviation
-
associate member
-
Assembly Member (of the National Assembly of Wales)
-
Albert Medal
-
Master of Arts
-
Also: am. amplitude modulation
-
See a.m.
-
Member of the Order of Australia
-
Armenia (international car registration)
a.m.
4
British
abbreviation
am
5
British
am
6
British
abbreviation
A/M
7
British
abbreviation
Am.
8
British
abbreviation
AM
Scientific
Usage
The abbreviation a.m. for Latin ante merīdiem, meaning “before noon,” refers to the period from midnight until noon. One minute before noon is 11:59 a.m. One minute after noon is 12:01 p.m. Many people distinguish between noon and midnight by saying 12 noon and 12 midnight. Expressions combining a.m. with morning ( 6 a.m. in the morning ) and p.m. with afternoon, evening, or night ( 9 p.m. at night ) are redundant and occur most often in casual speech and writing. Both a.m. and p.m. sometimes appear in capital letters, especially in printed matter.
Etymology
Origin of am1
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English am, eam, eom; cognate with Gothic im, Old Norse, Armenian em, Old Irish am (from unattested esmi ), Attic Greek eimí, Aeolic Greek émmi, Doric Greek ēmí (all from prehistoric Greek esmi ), Hittite esmi, early Lithuanian esmì, Old Church Slavonic yesmĭ, Albanian jam (from unattested esmi ), Sanskrit ásmi, from unattested Proto-Indo-European ésmi, from root es- “to be” + -m 1st person singular + -i, present-time marker; cf. is
Origin of AM3
First recorded in 1935–40
Origin of a.m.6
From Latin ante merīdiem
Origin of A.M.7
A.M. ( def. 2 ) from Latin Artium Magister
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.
See Examples For:
“Everything that we’ve done in this album has been an adventure and experience that has molded me into who I am today.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
To quote some very succinct words from Macklemore, something I never believed I’d do but am very fortunate to be able to: “When the news cycle moves on, which it will, don’t move with it.”
From Salon ● Sep. 21, 2026
I am 56 and have a confession that makes me feel like a terrible person: I have a friend, 58, who likes me much more than I like her.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026
So much for his “I am the house” rhetoric.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026
“Stay put. I am going to figure this out.”
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
He won the 2004 Tony Award for playing more than 40 characters in “I Am My Own Wife,” and his 2022 adaptation of “A Christmas Carol” saw him take on more than 50 characters.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
“Where that is, no one can tell me. Am I doomed to ever roam?”
From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2026
Fhimah worked for the carrier in Malta before the bombing of Pan Am 103.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
Am I gonna pay more or less in taxes?’”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
Am I supposed to say yes or no?
From "Amina's Song" by Hena Khan
Throughout the crisis, Kiritsis made live calls to Fred Heckman, a local AM radio news broadcaster, pleading to listeners for the justice he believed he was due.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
An industry-funded study by the group Center for Automotive Research estimated it would cost automakers $3.8 billion to mitigate interference between EVs and AM radio.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
The industry’s shift away from incorporating AM radio began a decade ago, after more car companies began to develop electric vehicles for the U.S. market.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
Supporters argue that AM radio remains a vital part of the government’s emergency communication network when power and cell networks fail.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
Electricity was rationed from six PM to six AM, though sometimes it did not come on at all.
From "I Will Always Write Back" by Caitlin Alifirenka and Martin Ganda
The label ‘Negroes’ was commonplace in America through the 1960s—and as late as the 2010 census, a category of ‘Black, African Am., or Negro’ remained, but the Census Bureau subsequently dropped that label.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 19, 2025
"I. Am. The. Fury!" she intones before executing a somewhat flawless flying reverse turning kick.
From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2023
By the end, her work has had an impact at home, too — her baby sister marching around repeating her words: “I. Am. Not. Sorry!”
From New York Times ● Nov. 5, 2021
“I. Am. Fuh-reezing. Feel my hand — I’m still cold,” said Ruth Marshall, 64, who was seated on a park bench, face to the sky.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 23, 2015
“It reminds me, too, of how worthless I was. Am. How I couldn’t protect my work family. Not then. How I can’t protect my family now. Look at this place.”
From "Towers Falling" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Fire crews responded to a structure fire at the Moss Landing Power Plant, owned by Vistra Corp., around 6:15 a.m.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
Just days after Golding led Ole Miss to an upset win over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, Grove Collective and administration leaders met with Chambliss and Lacy between 1 and 4 a.m.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman will participate in a chat in London on stress testing at 9:30 a.m.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026
The streets were reopened around 7 a.m., according to the Police Department.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
They’d be walking to the cultural center to meet her at eight a.m.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
With advances in technology, insurers have been accelerating investments in telematics, data and artificial intelligence, including to better predict driver risk and set rates, according to insurer ratings agency A.M.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
“Overall, there are benefits to the use of telematics,” said Chris Draghi, a director at A.M.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
Insurance shoppers can also measure an insurer’s financial strength by checking its credit rating through agencies like A.M.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 16, 2026
Of the about $6 trillion in invested assets held by life and annuity companies, nearly $1 trillion is now in private-credit investments, according to A.M.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 8, 2026
She served them on Snowberger’s wide front porch at 5:00 A.M.
From Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles
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.
