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Is there a single term or a more accurate / concise replacement for the phrase "day-light hours".

Day (as opposed to night) would work, however, day is very commonly used to describe day + night. One day to most people means 24 hours.

I am looking for a better way to describe the duration between sunrise to sunset along the lines of synodic day or solar day which is the duration from one sunrise to the following sunrise (usually about 24 hours here on Earth).

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AeroKnight
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    You can also use daylight hours – Brandin Apr 05 '15 at 06:53
  • As a nitpicky detail, the synodic day is generally "noon" to "noon", not "sunrise" to "sunrise". Source: http://www.slittlefair.staff.shef.ac.uk/teaching/phy115/session2/sunMotion/days/days.html The Wikipedia page appears to be unsourced and slightly inaccurate, alas. The time of sunrise varies due to other factors, such as the Earth's tilt, and doesn't actually measure the time of the Earth's rotation. –  Apr 05 '15 at 13:28

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Daytime is the term you are looking for:

  • (n.) the time between sunrise and sunset.

  • (n.) the time between dawn and dusk; the day as distinct from evening or night.

  • (adj.) Occurring in or appropriate for use during the day: daytime tasks; daytime clothes.

(TFD)

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    Yes - the opposite of *nighttime*. – WS2 Apr 05 '15 at 07:37
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    Every time you write TFD I am reminded of RTFM and then wonder just which dictionary is being referred to so pejoratively. :) – tchrist Apr 05 '15 at 10:25
  • @tchrist - Isn't ' TFD an official acronym suggested by the mods to cite the source? –  Apr 05 '15 at 10:34
  • Actually, given the 2nd definition, isn't "day" ambiguous, since it may or may not include twilight? –  Apr 05 '15 at 13:30
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    @barrycarter: Yes, there's a certain ambiguity, but I think it's inherent in nature. There's no single word (AFAIK) because dawn and dusk are gradual processes. If you want precision, you need a phrase like "from sunrise to sunset" - and even then, might have to specify whether sunrise means when the first bit of sun is visible, or when it's fully above the horizon. And at my home, I can see the sunlight on the mountains at least half an hour before the sun itself. – jamesqf Apr 05 '15 at 17:44
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    Yep, daytime is unmistakable. Daytime is my favorite part of the day. –  Apr 05 '15 at 23:06