Forenoon Meaning
/ˈfɔːnuːn/Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounSynonym of morning: the part of the day between sunrise and noon.
Sentence Examples
The forenoon sunlight was warm and bright.
The meeting will be held in the forenoon.
We completed the urgent tasks during the quiet forenoon.
CEFR Practice Quiz
They decided to have their important meeting in the ____, starting at ten in the morning.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The market is busiest during the ____, when fresh produce is delivered and locals do their shopping.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English forenone, equivalent to fore- + noon.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"You are ambitious for poor knaves' caps and legs; you wear out a good wholesome forenoon in hearing a cause between an orange-wife and a fosset-seller, and then rejourn the controversy of threepence to a second day of audience."
— 1608, William Shakespeare, Coriolanus, act 2, scene 1:
"Later in the forenoon the gale increased more and more; the seas set in, and the waves grew bigger and bigger[.]"
— 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 182:
"This, too, was why no one, not even the twins, paid Papa O. any heed when the family returned from Mass one Sunday forenoon and he told them someone had been knocking while they were away."
— 1945, Nelson Algren, “How the Devil Came Down Division Street”, in The Best American Short Stories, (also in The Neon Wilderness, 1947):
"A hot sun burned down on us. Ten times during a single forenoon every stitch of clothes on one's body was soaked with perspiration, and ten times it dried again."
— 1910, Erwin Rosen, In the Legion, HTML edition, The Gutenberg Project, published 2012:
"It was run in by Ranochan of Polmadie on the forenoon slow to Carlisle and the afternoon slow back to the North."
— 1959 February, A. G. Dunbar, “The "Dunalastair I" 4-4-0s of the Caledonian”, in Trains Illustrated, page 87:
Explore More C2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
They decided to have their important meeting in the ____, starting at ten in the morning.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The market is busiest during the ____, when fresh produce is delivered and locals do their shopping.