Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “hours” come from?

Hours derives from Middle English oure, from Latin hora, from Ancient Greek ὥρα, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European kāro-.

hours (English): plural of hour

Definitions

  1. plural of hour

Ancestry of “hours”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishhourA time period of sixty minutes; one twenty-fourth...
2Middle Englishhourehour; A time, occasion, or moment; A canonical...
3Old Frenchhourehour; time; moment to do something
4Latinhōra—
5Ancient Greekὥραany defined period of time; season; climate
6Proto-Hellenic*worā—
7Proto-Indo-Europeanwēr-true
8Proto-Indo-Europeanwer-to burn; to cover, heed, notice; squirrel

Words derived from “hours”

  • hourslong
Every word from Proto-Indo-European wer- →