From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Morning mist

Morning Forest

The word morning originally referred to the sunrise. Morning precedes midday, afternoon, and night in the sequence of a day. Time-wise, the "morning" is often defined as from 5 am to 12 noon.

Morning (from the Middle English word morwening) was formed on the analogy of evening, from "morn" (in Middle English morwen), and originally meant the coming of the sunrise as evening meant the coming of the close of the day. The Middle English morwen dropped over time and became morwe, then eventually morrow, which properly means "morning", but was soon used to refer to the day following the present (i.e., "tomorrow").

It is often used metaphorically to refer to dawning or birth, usually with optimism, in such phrases as on a new morning or in that bright morning, for example. The phrase wee hours of the morning refers to the time between midnight and dawn. Never glad confident morning again! is a line from The Lost Leader by Robert Browning, and is a phrase often used, particularly in politics, of a leading figure tarnished by events (most famously used by Nigel Birch MP about Harold Macmillan, then Prime Minister, in the 1963 post-Profumo debate). And President Ronald Reagan used the phrase "It's morning in America" in one of his more famous campaign commercials.

Morning can also refer to the time of day following the wake-up of an individual, regardless of the current time of day. This part of day includes mostly menial tasks, needed to regain full productivity and ability for group socializing (i.e. shower, a morning meal, usually breakfast, dressing, etc.). The period end is vaguely defined when the individuals reach their full productivity level and are involved in any constructive social or otherwise activity. This expansion to the term was mostly contributed by the worldwide spread of electricity and independence from natural light sources.^{[citation needed]}

A morning newspaper is one on sale in the mornings (as opposed to an evening newspaper, on sale from about noon onwards). In practice (though this may vary according to country) this means that a morning newspaper is available in early editions from before midnight on the night before its cover date, further editions being printed and distributed during the night. Previews of tomorrow's newspapers are often a feature of late night news programs, such as Newsnight in the United Kingdom.

Morning meals include breakfast, though logically this need not be in the morning, and are very varied across cultures. Brunch is a late morning meal.

The ability of a person to wake up effectively in the morning can be defined by the length of their period three gene. This gene is hereditary and defines the persons ability to become completely alert and awake in the morning. people who carry the genetic pre-disposition of having a short period 3 gene generally find it harder to become fully awake, whereas people born with a longer period 3 gene find it much easier in comparison.^{[citation needed]}

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.