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.
弟は午年生まれです。
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
古い時刻法では、午の刻は昼ごろを指す。
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.
古い方位では、午は南を表す。
In the old direction system, 午 represents south.
Obsolete calendrical use in the traditional system of assigning the twelve branches to lunar months.
古い暦では、午は旧暦五月を指すことがある。
In the old calendar, 午 can refer to the fifth month of the lunar year.
馬 is the everyday word for the animal 'horse', while 午 is the zodiac/calendrical sign associated with the horse, though both share the reading うま.
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.