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.
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Radio. a system of broadcasting by means of amplitude modulation.
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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
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Armenia (international car registration)
a.m.
4
British
abbreviation
am
5
British
Am.
6
British
abbreviation
am
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:
“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
"My injuries left me with weakness in my arms and I am unable to lift anything above shoulder height, which I will live with for the rest of my life."
From BBC ● 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
“I am very thirsty, fox! And you sent me toward the wrong light! Again!”
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
From footnote 21 in “ ‘Lord I Am 1’: The Solitary ‘I’ and the Social Lyric,” a 2025 doctoral dissertation in English by Jenna Hart at the University of Illinois Chicago:
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
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 feeling some kinda way about Alex and JP?
From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas
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
Industry lobbyists have argued that AM radio is no longer a widely used feature and say that it can interfere with the widening suite of technology installed in new vehicles.
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
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
“Oh, YOU hear those conversations? Try being me. I AM those conversations. Dang! I received a text message, and I got distracted. Game over. Time to start again.”
From "A Rover's Story" by Jasmine Warga
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. 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
As my colleague Jeff Zeleny explained in January, the word appears as part of one of the racial categories on this year’s census form: “Black, African Am., or Negro.”
From New York Times ● Apr. 5, 2010
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
The streets were reopened around 7 a.m., according to the Police Department.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
Last night I tried it, lying awake at 3 a.m., and it worked.
From Slate ● 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
“That big dinner made me snoozelly. I’m hitting the hay. Five a.m. comes awfully early.”
From "Dog Squad" by Chris Grabenstein
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
And, ahem, regular readers of Markets A.M. will recall lots of hand-wringing about tech stocks when prices were lower.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 13, 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
I have a little sign in every room telling guests they are expected to complain at the office between the hours of nine and eleven A.M. daily.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
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.
