What the 'o' in o'clock actually means

What does the 'o' in 'o'clock' mean?

Social media users have been left shocked after discovering the true meaning of the phrase we say daily.

A woman, or @jenny_nuel1 on Threads, asked the platform if anyone knew what the "o" stood for.

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"What's the meaning of 'O' in o'clock???" she asked.

There was plenty of speculation in response to her post, with some suggesting it means 'Omega,' or 'Zero.'

The real answer to the question was quickly answered by various followers who shared that it was a "contraction of the phrase 'of the clock.'"

"At the invention of the clock, many people used the sundial, so to make the distinction, many people using the clock would state it's 'of the clock,'" one user correctly explained.

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Soon, there were follow-up questions, with one user asking, "Now I want to know its origin."

Today, almost all time is read through a clock, but historically, there were other means of measuring time.

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For example, it was common to distinguish time from the position of the sun or by tracking the north star.

The introduction of the 'o' clock' was a way to differentiate time told by one means from time told by a clock, as they did not always correspond.

"The phrase' o'clock' is a contraction of 'of the clock,' which was historically used to specify the time according to the clock," wrote John Brown, @johnbrown2812, on Threads.

"For example, saying 'it's 3 o'clock' originally meant 'it is 3 of the clock.'

"Over time, 'of the' was shortened to just 'O,' leading to the phrase we commonly use today."

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