What does noontime mean?
Noontime means the time around noon or the noon hour itself. It occurs especially in literary, historical, or deliberately traditional English, often in phrases such as “at noontime” and “by noontime.” Although it can denote the precise twelve o'clock moment, it may also suggest the broader period surrounding midday, including the time just before or after noon. The word is chiefly associated with North American usage but can be understood wherever English is used. In contemporary speech and everyday writing, “noon” is normally preferred because it is shorter, clearer, and less formal. Noontime can still be effective in descriptive prose, where its slightly old-fashioned character gives a sentence a distinctive atmosphere or connects it with a historical setting.
nounThe time of day around noon; the noon hour. The word is now literary or dated, with noon being the usual modern term.
- The time around noon; the noon hour.
"The bells rang at noontime, announcing the hour to the village below."
"By noontime, the market square was crowded with vendors and townspeople."
"The novel's final chapter is set at noontime on a long, midsummer day."
The plural is possible but rarely needed in modern usage.
"The trains departed at several noontimes throughout the day."
Once a traditional alternative to simply saying “noon,” noontime now lends a distinctly literary or old-fashioned atmosphere to a sentence.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does noontime come from?
Noontime is a compound of noon and time and was formed during the 19th century. It belongs to a group of English expressions built around the established name of the midday hour, including noonday, noontide, afternoon, and postnoon. Unlike the simpler and now more usual “noon,” noontime emphasizes the period or hour associated with midday and has consequently acquired a somewhat literary tone.
Related word forms
How noontime is actually used
Noontime is somewhat literary and dated in modern English and is encountered mainly in North American prose. It may also be written as two words, “noon time,” though the closed form is standard. For ordinary statements about the hour itself, noon is more natural.
Easily confused with noontime
Noon names the twelve o'clock hour, whereas noontime can refer more broadly to noon or the period around it.