(?), n. [OE. hour, our, hore, ure, OF. hore, ore, ure, F. heure, L. hora, fr. Gr. /, orig., a definite space of time, fixed by natural laws; hence, a season, the time of the day, an hour. See Year, and cf. Horologe, Horoscope.] 1.
The twenty-fourth part of a day; sixty minutes.
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2.
The time of the day, as expressed in hours and minutes, and indicated by a timepiece; as, what is the hour? At what hour shall we meet?
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3.
Fixed or appointed time; conjuncture; a particular time or occasion; as, the hour of greatest peril; the man for the hour.
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-Woman, . . . mine hour is not yet come. John ii. 4.
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-This is your hour, and the power of darkness. Luke xxii. 53.
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4. pl. (R. C. Ch.)
Certain prayers to be repeated at stated times of the day, as matins and vespers.
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5.
A measure of distance traveled.
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-Vilvoorden, three hours from Brussels. J. P. Peters.
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After hours, after the time appointed for one's regular labor. -- Canonical hours. See under Canonical. -- Hour angle (Astron.), the angle between the hour circle passing through a given body, and the meridian of a place. -- Hour circle. (Astron.) (a) Any circle of the sphere passing through the two poles of the equator; esp., one of the circles drawn on an artificial globe through the poles, and dividing the equator into spaces of 15
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