a.m.

> a.m. and p.m.
a.m. and p.m. are liable to be confused. A.M., which is short for Latin "ante meridiem" meaning "before noon", is used to indicate that the time given occurs between the hours of midnight and midday, as in "She asked friends for coffee at 11 a.m". P.M., which is short for post meridiem, meaning "after noon", is used to indicate that the time given occurs during the hours between midday and midnight, as in "The shop stays open until 10 p.m." Full stops are usually used both in a.m. and p.m.; in the case of a.m. to distinguish it from the verb "am". Usually both a.m. and p.m. are spelt with lower-case letters.