TERMIUM Plus^®

Record 1,  Textual support,  English

Record number: 1, Textual support number: 1 DEF

12 o'clock at night.  4, record 1, English, - midnight

Record number: 1, Textual support number: 1 CONT

The 12-hour clock is a time conversion convention in which the 24 hours of the day are divided into two periods called “ante meridiem” (“a.m.,” English: "before mid day") and “post meridiem” (“p.m.,” English: "after mid day"). Each period consists of 12 hours numbered: 12 (acting as zero), 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11. … Confusion at noon and midnight. ... The National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, states: To avoid confusion, the correct designation for twelve o'clock is 12 noon or 12 midnight. Alternatively, the twenty-four-hour-clock system may be used. … In the United States, noon is often called "12:00 p.m." and midnight "12:00 a.m." With this convention, thinking of "12" as "0" makes the system logical. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (Fourth Edition, 2000) has a similar usage note on this topic: "Strictly speaking, 12 a.m. denotes midnight, and 12 p.m. denotes noon, but there is sufficient confusion over these uses to make it advisable to use 12 noon and 12 midnight where clarity is required." Many U.S. style guides (including the NIST website) recommend that it is clearest if one refers to "noon" or "12:00 noon" and "midnight" or "12:00 midnight" (rather than to "12:00 p.m." and "12:00 a.m.", respectively). … The use of "12:00 midnight" or "midnight" is still problematic because it does not distinguish between the midnight at the start of a particular day and the midnight at its end. To avoid confusion and error, some U.S. style guides recommend either clarifying "midnight" with other context clues, or not referring to midnight at all. For an example of the latter method, "midnight" is replaced with "11:59 p.m." for the end of a day or "12:01 a.m." for the start of the next day. That has become common in the United States in legal contracts and for airplane, bus, or train schedules, though some schedules use other conventions. The 24-hour clock notation avoids all of those ambiguities by using 00:00 for midnight at the start of the day and 12:00 for noon. From 23:59:59 the time shifts (one second later) to 00:00:00, the beginning of the next day. Some variants of 24-hour notation (including the world standard ISO 8601) use 24:00 when referring to a midnight at the end of a day.  3, record 1, English, - midnight

Record number: 1, Textual support number: 1 OBS

Our recommendation is to use the 24-hour clock system (ISO 8601). For midnight (begin of day): Use “00:00.” For midnight (end of day): Use “24:00.” You will use “12:00” to designate noon.  5, record 1, English, - midnight

Record number: 1, Textual support number: 2 OBS

If you use the 12-hour clock system: For midnight (begin of day): Use “midnight”, “12:00 midnight” or, better, “12:01 a.m.” (in legal contracts and for transportation schedules). For midnight (end of day): Use “midnight,” “12:00 midnight” or, better, “11:59 p.m." (in legal contracts and for transportation schedules). In both cases, avoid “12:00 a.m.,” which is confusing.  5, record 1, English, - midnight

Record number: 1, Textual support number: 3 OBS

The instant of midnight should be represented (when seconds are included) as either 24:00:00, the end of one day, or 00:00:00, the beginning of the next day, according to circumstances.  6, record 1, English, - midnight

Record 1,  Textual support,  French

Record number: 1, Textual support number: 1 DEF

La douzième heure après midi; instant marqué vingt-quatre heures ou zéro heure.  3, record 1, French, - minuit

Record number: 1, Textual support number: 1 OBS

Attention au genre masculine de ce nom. [Exemples d’utilisation :] «Il est minuit et demi (0 h 30). Le dernier métro part à minuit précis». Quand le nom minuit est sujet, le verbe s’accorde au singulier. [Exemple :] «Minuit sonne».  4, record 1, French, - minuit

Record number: 1, Textual support number: 2 OBS

Minuit : 0 h (début de la journée) ou 24 h (fin de la journée). Minuit cinq : 0 h 5. Minuit dix : 0 h 10.  2, record 1, French, - minuit

Record 1,  Textual support,  Spanish