hour

A1 Topic:Time

US /aː(ɹ)/ UK /aʊə/ See IPA manual

Homophones

our /ˈaʊə(ɹ)/

noun Freq #565

Meanings

1

noun
A period of time lasting sixty minutes.

The journey will take more than an hour.
2

noun
A particular point in time shown by a clock.

The hour is getting late, so I must go home.
3

noun
A special or important moment in time.

Winning the award was her finest hour.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a period of time lasting... hr

2 noun · a particular point in time... time of day

Word family

Forms hours

Derived forms amp-hourampere-hourby-hourdinner-houreleventh-hourf-hourflexihoursflower-of-an-hourgigawatt-hourgirl-hourh-hourhalf-hour

Common collocations

Etymology

From Middle English houre, hour, oure, from Old French houre, from Latin hōra (“hour”), from Ancient Greek ὥρα (hṓra, “any time or period, whether of the year, month, or day”), from Proto-Indo-European *yóh₁r̥ (“year, season”). Akin to Old English ġēar (“year”). Doublet of hora and year. Compare horary. Partly displaced native Old English tīd (“time, hour”), whence Modern English tide.

*(H)yeh₁- Proto-Indo-European houre Middle English hōra Latin ὥρα Ancient Greek *yóh₁r̥ Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Time

# hour

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** aː(ɹ)
**IPA (UK):** aʊə
**Frequency rank:** 565

## Meanings
1. A period of time lasting sixty minutes.
2. A particular point in time shown by a clock.
3. A special or important moment in time.

## Examples
- The journey will take more than an hour.
- The hour is getting late, so I must go home.
- Winning the award was her finest hour.

## Derived Forms
- amp-hour
- ampere-hour
- by-hour
- dinner-hour
- eleventh-hour
- f-hour
- flexihours
- flower-of-an-hour
- gigawatt-hour
- girl-hour
- h-hour
- half-hour

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *(H)yeh₁-
- Root: houre
- Root: hōra
- Root: ὥρα
- Root: *yóh₁r̥

## Etymology
From Middle English houre, hour, oure, from Old French houre, from Latin hōra (“hour”), from Ancient Greek ὥρα (hṓra, “any time or period, whether of the year, month, or day”), from Proto-Indo-European *yóh₁r̥ (“year, season”). Akin to Old English ġēar (“year”). Doublet of hora and year. Compare horary. Partly displaced native Old English tīd (“time, hour”), whence Modern English tide.

## AI Etymology
Hour comes from Middle English houre, hour, oure, from Old French houre, from Latin hōra (“hour”), from Ancient Greek ὥρα (hṓra, “any time or period, whether of the year, month, or day”), from Proto-Indo-European *yóh₁r̥ (“year, season”). Akin to Old English ġēar (“year”). Doublet of hora and year. Compare horary. Partly displaced native Old English tīd (“time, hour”), whence Modern English tide. The historical line also includes *(H)yeh₁- (Proto-Indo-European). In current use, the main senses are “A period of time lasting sixty minutes” and “A particular point in time shown by a clock”.

## Topics
- Time

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hour

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