The Meaning of PM: What It Is and How To Use It

Do you know the definition of PM? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on the abbreviation PM, including its definition, usage, and more!

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What does the abbreviation PM stand for?

According to the Translation Bureau of Canada, the acronym PM stands for the Latin post meridiem, which means after midday. This is in opposition to AM, or ante meridiem, meaning before midday. These are usually written in lowercase with a period, i.e a.m. and p.m., but can also be written in uppercase with no periods. You should not use AM or PM with with the expression o’clock or with the words morning, afternoon, evening or night. Only use AM and PM when using a 12-hour clock. They are unnecessary and incorrect when the 24-hour clock or military time in the United Stateswhich also uses 24-hour format is used. Though there are 24 hours of the day, most people use the 12-hour system. 

For example, say you pay a shop visit to a mechanic to get a time estimate on your car. If you have consistent inspections and mind safety when it comes to mechanical decisions, you can leave your car in the hands of the technicians. Shop management or the technician might say that with ordering the components, a piece of equipment and labor, they can have it done by seven on Friday. In this context, they would need to specify that they mean 7PM so there is no lack of understanding and you don’t show up at 7AM instead. Inspections and work are personal choices and require lengthy decision-making, so you might request it done by the next PM instead. Good luck!

PM can also stand for private message. This is an abbreviation term and shorthand that are used on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter that have messaging options.  You can use the website’s chat application by typing in a friend’s name and sending the transmission of a message. If there is a green dot, it probably means they are online in their downtime or availability. The recipient will get a notification when they receive a message.

According to The Free Dictionary, the abbreviation PM can stand for much more than just post meridiem or private message. This abbreviation has a plethora of other potential definitions. While these are still valid different meanings, they are less common, and should therefore be used sparingly. If you do decide to use one of these alternate meanings for the acronym PM, make sure that you provide the reader with the appropriate context so that they can infer the correct intended meaning and avoid confusion. 

  •  Prime Minister
  •  Personal Message (IRC)
  •  Particulate Matter
  •  Postmaster
  •  Postmortem
  •  Saint Pierre and Miquelon (ISO country code, top level domain name, ccTLD)
  •  Postmistress
  •  Past Master
  •  Provost Marshal
  •  Police Magistrate
  •  Pour Memoir (French: For Memory; response to RSVP)
  •  Panama
  •  Power Management
  •  Per Month
  •  PERL Module
  •  Project Management
  •  Project Manager
  •  Pain Management
  •  Price Match
  •  Plus Minus (hockey goals scored while player on/off ice)
  •  Performance Monitoring
  •  Paul McCartney (musician)
  •  Property Manager
  •  Product Manager
  •  Process Management
  •  Program Manager
  •  Post Malone (music)
  •  Paramedic
  •  Precious Metals
  •  Performance Management
  •  Principles of Medicine
  •  Performance Measurement
  •  Power Macintosh (Apple)
  •  PacMan
  •  Phillip Morris
  •  Perpetual Motion
  •  Priority Mail (USPS)
  •  Pacemaker
  •  Preventive Medicine
  •  Preventative Maintenance
  •  Portfolio Manager
  •  Preventive Maintenance
  •  Maximum Power
  •  Palma de Mallorca (Spain)
  •  Production Manager
  •  Practice Management
  •  Primeiro-Ministro (Portugal)
  •  Push Me
  •  Perry Meridian (High School)
  •  Prime Mover
  •  Pocket Monsters (Pokémon)
  •  Plasma Membrane (lipid bilayer)
  •  Power Monitoring
  •  Paramagnetic
  •  Process Model
  •  Permanent Magnet
  •  Police Misconduct
  •  Performance Meeting
  •  Popular Mechanics (magazine)
  •  Pipe Major
  •  Production Management
  •  Policy Manual
  •  Personal Mobility (various meanings)
  •  Precautionary Measure
  •  Procedures Manual
  •  Personnel Manager
  •  Permanent Memory
  •  Paymaster
  •  Paper Mario (N64 game)
  •  Princess Mononoke
  •  Powder Metallurgy
  •  Printed Matter
  •  Project M (gaming)
  •  Planned Maintenance
  •  Perfect Money (Internet payment system; Panama)
  •  Play Money
  •  Power Module
  •  Palliative Medicine
  •  Phantom Menace (Star Wars)
  •  Production Model
  •  Policia Militar
  •  Pattern Matching
  •  Purchasing Manager
  •  Pubblico Ministero (Italian: Public Prosecutor)
  •  PageMaker (Adobe software)
  •  Procurement Manager
  •  Prime Meridian (zero longitude)
  •  Prime Meridian (magazine)
  •  Periodic Maintenance
  •  Psychosomatic Medicine
  •  Participating Member (various organizations)
  •  Political Military
  •  Pulp Mill
  •  Premier Ministre (French: Prime Minister; various nations)
  •  Penalty Minutes (hockey)
  •  Problem Management
  •  Photographic Memory
  •  Paul Murphy (property manager; UK)
  •  Pentium M (Intel processor)
  •  Phase Modulation
  •  Promethium
  •  Patriot Missile
  •  Paper Machine
  •  Probability of Mutation (genetic algorithms)
  •  Program Memory
  •  Phone Me
  •  Pharmacy Manager
  •  Polarization-Maintaining (fiber optics)
  •  Purpose-Made
  •  Pressure Meter
  •  Pre-Menstrual
  •  Primary Mirror (telescopes)
  •  Pulse Modulation
  •  Payload Module
  •  Prototype Model (engineering)
  •  Production Meeting
  •  Pure Math
  •  Plumbing & Mechanical (Mesa, AZ)
  •  Procrastination Maintenance Science
  •  Patternmaker (USN Rating)
  •  Powerlifting Motivation
  •  Project Master
  •  PlayMemories (software; Sony)
  •  Penton Media (New York, NY)
  •  Patient Movement (US DoD)
  •  Polymyositis (Immune disease causing muscle inflammation)
  •  Particle-Mesh
  •  Palm Mute (guitar technique)
  •  Planning Module
  •  Principal Manager (various companies)
  •  Perception Management (corporate communications)
  •  Philippine Marine (indigenous Marine in the Philippines)
  •  Person Months (work measurement)
  •  Pitchfork Media
  •  Sisters of the Presentation of Mary (religious order)
  •  Peoplemover
  •  People Meter
  •  Provost Marshall (US DoD)
  •  Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (US DoD)
  •  Preventative Maintenance Service/Preventative Maintenance Technology/Preventive Maintenance Process (determined repair choices and replacement parts at lowest cost during act of inspection)
  •  Presentation Manager (OS/2)
  •  PartitionMagic (PowerQuest)
  •  Peso Mexicano (Mexican Peso)
  •  Peritoneal Metastasis
  •  Privilege Management (IT, middleware; networking)
  •  Plan B
  •  Potential Life of Tires (determines necessary repairs or necessity of the repair of equipment, e.g. max life)
  •  Progressive Maintenance
  •  Pilot Monitoring
  •  Pons-Medulla
  •  Program Memorandum
  •  Propulsion Module
  •  Progressive Majority
  •  Picometer
  •  Pour Mémoire (French: for the record)
  •  Polymer Morphology
  •  Project Memo
  •  Push Money
  •  Planar Map
  •  Platform Model (Object Management Group)
  •  Purulent Meningitis
  •  Pontifex Maximus
  •  Properties Master (theatre)
  •  Preparative Meeting (Quaker religion)
  •  Prototyping Methodology
  •  Puppymill
  •  Pedometrics
  •  Power Mirror
  •  Proposed Monitor
  •  Pressurized Module
  •  Protocol Machine
  •  Playmore Corporation (Japan)
  •  Production Manifold (oil and gas drilling)
  •  Photo Multiplier
  •  Plaza Miranda (Philippines)
  •  Police Militaire (French: Military Police)
  •  Platinum Medallion (Delta Sky Miles)
  •  PERL Monk
  •  Passage Material (US DoD)
  •  Performance Margin
  •  Preço de Mercado (Portuguese: Market Price)
  •  Peritrophic Matrix (biology)
  •  Pistolet Mitrailleur (French: Machine Gun)
  •  Purchase Memorandum
  •  Pohjoismaiden Mestaruus (Finnish: Nordic Championship)
  •  Petameter (10 E^15, one quadrillion meters)
  •  Passmonster (security software)
  •  Plant Miscellaneous
  •  Parallel Track Multiunit (US DoD)
  •  Précompte Mobilier (French)
  •  Pressure Multiplier
  •  Processable Mode
  •  Project Missionary
  •  Peter Moosleitner’s Magazin (German science magazine)
  •  Pronto Mezcla (Guatemala concrete dispenser business)
  •  Pulpomesial
  •  Proto-Manenguba

Overall, the acronym PM means post meridiem or private message. This acronym has many different potential definitions.

Sources:

  1. PM – What does PM stand for? | The Free Dictionary 
  2. am, pm – Search for entries starting with A – Writing Tips – TERMIUM Plus® – | Translation Bureau.Â