Where did the term "o'clock" come from?

Question

Everyone knows what 12 o'clock means in terms of what time it is. But where did the "o'clock" piece come from? Is it Irish? :)

Answer 1

short for Of The Clock

It's found in Chaucer in the late fourteenth century, and consistently thereafter. Our standard form o'clock is first attested in the early eighteenth century; the use of o' as an abbreviation for of found since the Middle Ages and still used in such other set expressions as Jack o' lantern and will-o'-the-wisp.



http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19970102

Answer 2

This pc component has long previous way too far. In Spanish, the be conscious N E G R O means black. it incredibly isn't any longer an offensive be conscious relatively. in basic terms some idiots desperate it grow to be offensive and abruptly it grew to grow to be a foul be conscious. If used wisely in a sentence then i've got not got a concern with it.

Answer 3

Well people already answered that it's "of the clock" but I was just thinking how awkward that would sound that people actually said "It's 12 of the clock" before the 18th century o_0

Answer 4

It actually means of the clock, which in turn means by the clock

Answer 5

c.1720, abbreviation of of the clock, from M.E. of the clokke (1389). Attested from 1904 in ref. to direction (by shooters, fighter pilots, etc.).

Answer 6

It means "Of the clock". And I think it's english.

Answer 7

A contraction of "of the clock".

Answer 8

It means "of the clock"

Answer 9

Contraction of "of the clock?"

Answer 10

oclok means time in malay and i guess the english picked it up