Noon (also midday) is the hour of 12:00 pm (1200) in an observer's local time zone, or more loosely, a time near the middle of the day when workers in many countries take a meal break. The scientific term solar noon describes the moment when the sun crosses the meridian in apparent solar time.
The word "noon" is derived from Latin nona hora, the ninth hour of the day. The Roman and Western European medieval monastic day began at 6:00 am (0600) by modern timekeeping, so the ninth hour began at what is now 2:00 pm (1400). In English, the meaning of the word shifted to midday by the year 1100 CE.[1]
