am
verb
1st person singular present indicative of be.
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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
verb
Am
2
British
symbol
AM
3
British
abbreviation
-
associate member
-
Assembly Member (of the National Assembly of Wales)
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Albert Medal
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Master of Arts
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Also: am. amplitude modulation
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See a.m.
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Member of the Order of Australia
-
Armenia (international car registration)
Am.
4
British
abbreviation
am
5
British
am
6
British
abbreviation
A/M
7
British
abbreviation
a.m.
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:
“I am confident that we are going to rid ourselves of this one,” Belli said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
"As we say, this is our victory. I cannot begin to describe how overjoyed I am to see how my progress has been received by the Filipino people."
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
"I am pained to see the events of the past 10 days. This is not a matter of personal prestige for me," Pradhan said in a statement posted on social media platform X.
From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026
"I'm so grateful that I am able to share my triumphs, most especially my recent run at Wimbledon, with the country," Eala said at the reception.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
“The night is dark and I am far from home . . .” Betsie’s sweet soprano was picked up by voices all around us.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
A follow-up photographic survey confirmed the wreckage was of the Clipper Endeavor, providing images that revealed the Pan Am logo and aircraft's name were still visible on the fuselage.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
It opened in late June in a former Pan Am building near some budget airport hotels.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
One Instagram user posted a video of a spring onion with the text: "Am I losing it or does this green onion look like Haaland?"
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
Am I supposed to watch myself and imitate myself?
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2026
“Why bother? We don’t need Charlemagne to tell us we’re champions. Am I right?”
From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein
On July 7, 2026, at approximately 6:50 AM CT, ICE law enforcement attempted to conduct a vehicle stop as part of a targeted enforcement operation to arrest an illegal alien.
From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2026
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, commonly called AM fungi, form mutually beneficial relationships with approximately ~70% of plant species worldwide.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 15, 2026
His favorite is 1984’s jazzy “2:00 AM Paradise Cafe,” on which he collaborated with Mulligan, Sarah Vaughan and Mel Tormé.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2026
In 2025, they reported $413 billion worth, according to insurance ratings firm AM Best, twice as much as in 2020.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 26, 2026
He was a child of AM radio’s Top Forty heyday.
From "Bodega Dreams" by Ernesto Quinonez
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
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
Their decision to self-identify only as "American" isn't really any different from someone else's decision to self-identify as -- in the antiquated words of the Census form -- "Black, African Am. or Negro."
From Salon ● Mar. 10, 2010
“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
According to the criminal complaint, Truelove sneaked into a restricted area of the Rockefeller Plaza lobby just before 9 a.m. on July 16, following an employee who used an identification card to swipe in.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
U.S. economic data due Friday include the S&P flash services and manufacturing purchasing managers surveys for July, released at 9:45 a.m.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
By 9:45 a.m., the man was still atop the bridge, refusing to come down.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
“If we had had 2 a.m., 4 a.m. testing,” Vaughters said, “we would have had huge numbers of riders immediately banned, including me. And we would have saved the sport 25 years of drama.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Catch the 1:23 a.m. bus, ten stops to Garden Springs.
From "The Science of Breakable Things" by Tae Keller
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
Higher-yielding private debt surged to nearly $1 trillion of insurers’ $6 trillion in invested assets, by A.M.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026
Superintendent Yoshida told his team they would need to be ready to vent by 9:00 A.M.
From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland
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.
