meridiem

noun

"meridiem" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“meridiem” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
8
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Midday, noon.

Corpus desk

Index EN-meridiem · meridiem · English

meridiem · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "M" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for meridiem
PropertyValue
Headwordmeridiem
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “meridiem” in English

meridiemranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

meridiem is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for meridiem in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Etymologically, the entry records: Back-formation from the phrases ante meridiem and post meridiem (more commonly a.m. and p.m.), from Latin merīdiem, accusative of merīdiēs (“midday, noon”). The correct English form is meridiem, spelled M-E-R-I-D-I-E-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    Midday, noon.
  2. 2
    The property of a timestamp of being either a.m. or p.m.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how meridiem appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Quantities and frequencies are distributed as follows (neglecting the meridiem hour):[…]
  2. The same female number 1 introduced inside the ice-box at 9 a.m., to 9:15 was in lethargy, pick up and put it inside the stove to 350 degrees, to 12 meridiem, was in excellent conditions.

Etymology

Back-formation from the phrases ante meridiem and post meridiem (more commonly a.m. and p.m.), from Latin merīdiem, accusative of merīdiēs (“midday, noon”).

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "meridiem"?
"meridiem" is spelled M-E-R-I-D-I-E-M.
What does "meridiem" mean?
As a noun, "meridiem" means: Midday, noon.
What is the origin of the word "meridiem"?
Back-formation from the phrases ante meridiem and post meridiem (more commonly a.m. and p.m.), from Latin merīdiem, accusative of merīdiēs (“midday, noon”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list