Horse; seventh sign of the Chinese zodiac
The Earthly Branch sign associated with the horse in the twelve-sign zodiac; common in compounds such as 午年.
In the twelve zodiac signs, the Horse is the seventh.
My younger brother was born in the Year of the Horse.
hour of the Horse; around noon
Obsolete traditional time designation, especially in the phrase 午の刻; it referred roughly to the midday period, with exact ranges varying by system.
See also: 午の刻
In the old time system, the Hour of the Horse referred to around midday.
Obsolete directional use from the traditional twelve-branch direction system, where 午 corresponds to south.
In the old direction system, 午 represents south.
Obsolete calendrical use in the traditional system of assigning the twelve branches to lunar months.
In the old calendar, 午 can refer to the fifth month of the lunar year.
正午 means 'noon' and contains the same kanji as 午, but it is read しょうご, not うま, so learners should not assume the same pronunciation.
year of the Horse
午 is one of the twelve Earthly Branch characters. In Japanese it is read うま for the zodiac sign and is conventionally associated with the horse; the exact historical character origin is not specified.