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Hour


HOUR, noun our. [Latin hora; also Latin tempestivus, from tempus. See Time. But hour hora, afterward came to signify a certain portion or division of the day. This has been different in different nations.]

1. A space of time equal to one twenty fourth part of the natural day, or duration of the diurnal revolution of the earth. An hour answers to fifteen degrees of the equator. It consists of 60 minutes, each minute of 60 seconds, etc.

2. Time; a particular time; as the hour of death.

Jesus saith, woman, my hour is not yet come. John 2:4.

3. The time marked or indicated by a chronometer, clock or watch; the particular time of the day. What is the hour? At what hour shall we meet? I will be with you at an early hour

Good hour signifies early or seasonably.

You have arrived at a good hour

To keep good hours, to be at home in good season; not to be abroad late, or at the usual hours of retiring to rest.

HOURs, in the plural, certain prayers in the Romish church, to be repeated at stated times of the day, as matins and vespers.