Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Hour
(1,188 words)

1. Definition

As well as a precise unit of time and a synonym for “time of day” (e.g. “at a late hour”), hour can also be used figuratively to denote a particular time (e.g. “witching hour”), a momentous or fateful event (“hour of victory,” “hour of need”), or a vague period of time [2]. The modern definition as a twenty-fourth part of a day became established during the early modern period. A distinction is made between hours of equal length (Latin horae aequinoctiales, “equinoctial hou…

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Koller, Edith, “Hour”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 01 October 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_028436>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20180915



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