afternoon
Meaning
the period of time from 12 o'clock in the middle of the day until about 6 o'clock in the evening
Structure
Usage
we went for a long walk in the afternoon.
she has a meeting scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.
the afternoon sun was warm and pleasant.
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
after (old english, preposition meaning 'later in time than'); noon (old english, noun meaning 'midday, the ninth hour from sunrise')