Afternoon Meaning
/ˌɑːf.təˈnuːn/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe part of the day from noon or lunchtime until sunset, evening, or suppertime or 6pm.
nounThe later part of anything, often with implications of decline.
Sentence Examples
I spent the whole afternoon chatting with friends.
Judging from the look of the sky, it may rain this afternoon.
The meeting is scheduled for Friday afternoon.
CEFR Practice Quiz
We scheduled the meeting for 2 o'clock in the ____ to avoid the morning rush.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I like to take a short nap in the ____ when the sun is warmest.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English afternone, after-non, equivalent to after- + noon.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Theſe men ſerue God in the forenoone, and the diuell in the after noone;"
— 1601, Arthur Dent, Plaine Mans Path-way to Heauen, page 138:
"The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on a certain afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track. The three returned wondering and charmed with Mrs. Cooke; they were sure she had had no hand in the furnishing of that atrocious house."
— 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 58:
"If the afternoon was fine they strolled together in the park, very slowly, and with pauses to draw breath wherever the ground sloped upward. The slightest effort made the patient cough. He would stand leaning on his stick and holding a hand to his side, and when the paroxysm had passed it left him shaking."
— 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XLV, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, pages 374–375:
"Here the stripped panelling was warmly gold and the pictures, mostly of the English school, were mellow and gentle in the afternoon light."
— 1963, Margery Allingham, “Miss Thyrza’s Chair”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 41:
"And I love to live so pleasantly/Live this life of luxury/Lazing on a sunny afternoon/In the summertime"
— 1966, The Kinks, Sunny Afternoon:
Explore More A1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
We scheduled the meeting for 2 o'clock in the ____ to avoid the morning rush.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I like to take a short nap in the ____ when the sun is warmest.