It is not always clear what times "12:00 a.m." and "12:00 p.m." denote. From the Latin words "meridies" (midday), "ante" (before) and "post" (after), the term "ante meridiem" (a.m.) means before midday and "post meridiem" (p.m.) means after midday. Since "noon" (midday, "meridies" (m.)) is neither before nor after itself, the terms a.m. and p.m. do not apply. Although "12 m." was suggested as a way to indicate noon, this is seldom done and also does not resolve the question of how to indicate midnight.