Time is a component quantity of different measurements used in sequencing events, comparing the length of periods of events between them, and quantifying the rate of quantity change in material reality or in conscious perception. Time is unambiguously operationally described in physics as "what a clock reads."
The common practice involves reading time from the clock as x o’clock.
Ever wondered why we commonly say 4 o’clock while referring to the time. This doesn't occur to us as a foreign phenomenon as we have become habitual to this notion of time. Let's explore this topic in a bit of detail.
For ages, humans have engaged themselves so as to be able to familiarise themselves with the notion of telling time. The practice of using o’clock is a remnant of the times when clocks weren't that prevalent and different methodologies were used by the people to get a notion of duration and measure it to keep track of daily activities. Time allows us a measure of progress by imposing moments on dates, setting the length of events, and determining which events occur before other events occur. To do this, a certain form of time measurement is required.
Time is a mechanism in which human beings perceive changes in the world and the cosmos and document them. The perception of measurement and time is very important/ There were no clocks to calculate time in ancient times. The need to calculate time was, however, felt even then.
Generally, the sun was kept as a reference point and the solar time used to differ a bit from the clock time. However, with clocks, you can evenly distribute the time the whole year round, on the other hand, solar time changes with change in seasons. Hence such a system of time gets affected by a lot of factors that occur naturally and hence clocks were started to be used worldwide to get accurate time measurements through all seasons.
Though, when both clock time and solar time were prevalent as a means of conveying time, the idea of using o’clock to convey the idea that its the clock timing came into being. It was used to differentiate it from timing from a sundial or anything else. It was in as early as the fourteenth century that a person would say it is seven of the clock like small kids usually say while learning how to tell time. This later shortened down to saying six o’clock and in some countries as time passed, calling it as seven clock became the common way to tell time.
In the eighteenth century, using seven o’clock gained popularity coming from the popular way of slurring in many different things such as Will-o-wisp from the Will of the Wisp and Jack-o-Lantern from the common Jack of the lantern. Both of these weren’t coined with the o in between however as time passed people changed the way they addressed both of these.
To see, the Will of the wisp was usually stemmed from the legend of an evil blacksmith where the wisp symbolizes the torch. Jock of the lantern That originally meant only "man of the lantern" at that time, with the modern name "any man" being "Jack." This name was later transferred to either this or the Irish "Stingy Jack" legend to refer to decorated pumpkins with lit candles inside. This happens when a particular style gets popularity, it becomes trendy and people like to adopt that in their daily habits.
Although clocks are common and few people nowadays, if anyone can tell clear time by the Sun, in most instances it is not important to clarify that we refer to time by clocks, but the tradition of saying "o'clock" has stuck on anyway.
You can also read 15 Times Management Tips For Achieving your Goals to make your time management more efficient.
Interested in knowing about the History of World time zones? You can read this article to understand about World Time Zone History
Written By - Bhanu Jain
Edited By - Kashish Chadha
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