hour
UK[ˈaʊə(r)]US[ˈaʊər]
n
A period of time equal to 60 minutes, one of the 24 parts that a day is divided into.
n
A particular point in time or a period of time when something happens.
Etymology
The word 'hour' traces its lineage back to the Proto-Indo-European root yēr-, meaning 'year' or 'season'. This concept of a cyclical period was inherited by Greek as 'hōra', which initially denoted a season or a fixed period of time. Latin adopted it as 'hora', narrowing its meaning to a twelfth part of the day or night. Through Old French 'hore', the word entered English, where it stabilized to its modern sense of a 60-minute division of the day. The journey from a broad seasonal cycle to a precise unit of daily time illustrates the refinement of temporal measurement in human society.
Analysis
The word 'hour' is a simplex word derived from Old French 'hore', ultimately from Latin 'hora' and Greek 'hōra', meaning a limited time or season.
Examples
The meeting lasted for over an hour.
Call me at the top of the hour.
He worked long hours to finish the project.