am
1 Americanverb
abbreviation
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Electronics. amplitude modulation: a method of impressing a signal on a radio carrier wave by varying its amplitude.
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Radio. a system of broadcasting by means of amplitude modulation.
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of, relating to, or utilizing such a system.
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Asian male.
abbreviation
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America.
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American.
abbreviation
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before noon.
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the period from midnight to noon, especially the period of daylight prior to noon.
Shall we meet Saturday a.m.?
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a morning newspaper, sometimes issued shortly before midnight.
symbol
verb
abbreviation
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associate member
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Assembly Member (of the National Assembly of Wales)
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Albert Medal
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Master of Arts
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Also: am. amplitude modulation
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See a.m.
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Member of the Order of Australia
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Armenia (international car registration)
abbreviation
abbreviation
abbreviation
abbreviation
Usage
The abbreviation a.m. for Latin ante merīdiem, meaning “before noon,” refers to the period from midnight until noon. One minute before noon is 11:59 a.m. One minute after noon is 12:01 p.m. Many people distinguish between noon and midnight by saying 12 noon and 12 midnight. Expressions combining a.m. with morning ( 6 a.m. in the morning ) and p.m. with afternoon, evening, or night ( 9 p.m. at night ) are redundant and occur most often in casual speech and writing. Both a.m. and p.m. sometimes appear in capital letters, especially in printed matter.
Etymology
Origin of am1
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English am, eam, eom; cognate with Gothic im, Old Norse, Armenian em, Old Irish am (from unattested esmi ), Attic Greek eimí, Aeolic Greek émmi, Doric Greek ēmí (all from prehistoric Greek esmi ), Hittite esmi, early Lithuanian esmì, Old Church Slavonic yesmĭ, Albanian jam (from unattested esmi ), Sanskrit ásmi, from unattested Proto-Indo-European ésmi, from root es- “to be” + -m 1st person singular + -i, present-time marker; is
Origin of AM3
First recorded in 1935–40
Origin of a.m.6
From Latin ante merīdiem
Origin of A.M.7
A.M. ( def. 2 ) from Latin Artium Magister
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Levy: I am making this show for Laurie to watch in five years.
From Los Angeles Times
I spent 17 years at the helm of the California Air Resources Board, and I am deeply disturbed by the potential co-opting of public input processes using forgery through automated tools.
From Los Angeles Times
Class still speaks and he has lots of it, especially in his passing range, so I am going for him in this squad - whether Tuchel shares that view remains to be seen.
From BBC
"I am not in favour of an ambitious industrial project that will serve our armed forces being co-managed. We need a leader."
From Barron's
"But I am looking forward to some lie-ins and exploring the weather elsewhere around the world. Thank you for watching!"
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.