afternoon
UK[ˌɑːftəˈnuːn]US[ˌæftərˈnuːn]
n
the period of time from 12 o'clock in the middle of the day until about 6 o'clock in the evening
Morpheme Breakdown
after
noon
after
later in time than
noon
midday, the ninth hour from sunrise
Etymology
the word 'afternoon' is a transparent compound formed from two old english elements: 'after' and 'noon'. in old english, 'nōn' originally referred to the ninth hour from sunrise (approximately 3 p.m.), which was a canonical hour for prayer. over time, the meaning of 'noon' shifted to signify midday (12 p.m.). consequently, 'afternoon' logically came to denote the period following this new midday point. its formation follows a straightforward pattern common in english, where a preposition is combined with a noun to create a temporal compound.
Analysis
Structure: after + noon
after (old english, preposition meaning 'later in time than'); noon (old english, noun meaning 'midday, the ninth hour from sunrise')
Examples
we went for a long walk in the afternoon.
she has a meeting scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.
the afternoon sun was warm and pleasant.