What does afternoon mean?
Afternoon is the portion of the day that falls between midday and evening, conventionally spanning from about twelve o'clock until roughly six in the evening, when evening begins. It is one of the fundamental divisions of the day in English, alongside morning, evening, and night, and it appears constantly in everyday scheduling language: appointments, meetings, trains, and social plans are all routinely set for 'this afternoon' or 'tomorrow afternoon.' The word also serves as the basis for the standard greeting 'Good afternoon,' used from midday onward. Beyond its literal meaning, afternoon carries a well-established figurative sense, describing the later stage of a person's life or career — 'the afternoon of life' — which lends the word a quiet, reflective connotation in literary writing. Culturally, the afternoon is associated with rest and leisure in many traditions, from the Mediterranean siesta to the British ritual of afternoon tea. Simple, familiar, and indispensable, it remains one of the most frequently used time-of-day terms in the language.
The period of the day between noon and evening, typically from about 12 p.m. to about 6 p.m.
"She likes to take her walk in the late afternoon."
Used both with definite articles ('in the afternoon') and attributively ('an afternoon nap').
(Figurative) The later or declining stage of a life, career, or era.
"He spent the afternoon of his life tending his orchards in Provence."
Literary register; usually framed as 'the afternoon of life' or 'the afternoon of one's years'.
The plural is common in habitual expressions such as 'on summer afternoons' or 'sleeping in the afternoons.'
"On hot afternoons, the whole town grew quiet."
In Shakespeare's England, 'afternoon' was still new enough that some writers felt obliged to explain it — today it anchors everything from siestas to afternoon tea.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of afternoon
Afternoon is formed transparently from two native English elements: the preposition/adverb 'after' and the noun 'noon,' which itself derives from Old English 'nōn,' borrowed from Latin 'nona (hora),' the ninth hour of the Roman day. As the canonical hour of nones shifted earlier in medieval reckoning, 'noon' came to mean midday, and 'after-noon' emerged in Middle English as a straightforward compound meaning the time following midday. It has been in continuous use since the late Middle Ages, and its cognates are largely other English compounds built on 'noon,' such as 'forenoon' and 'noontide.'
Related word forms
How afternoon is actually used
A common everyday noun with no particular register restrictions. In greetings, 'Good afternoon' is conventionally used from midday until early evening. The figurative sense ('the afternoon of life') carries a gently elegiac connotation and appears mostly in literary contexts.
Easily confused with afternoon
Forenoon refers to the morning hours before noon, whereas afternoon refers to the hours after noon.