午 almost never appears alone — it's used in time-of-day compounds: 上午 (morning/a.m.), 中午 (noon), 下午 (afternoon/p.m.), 午饭 (lunch), 午觉 (afternoon nap). These are among the first time words you'll learn.
culture
午 is the 7th of the 12 Earthly Branches (地支) and corresponds to the Horse in the Chinese zodiac. The traditional "noon" timeslot (午时, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.) is when the sun is at its highest, and the Horse symbolizes yang energy at its peak.
Components
pictograph
午wǔ
noon; seventh earthly branch
Pictograph of a wooden pestle with a thickened striking end — top slash and two crossed horizontals trace shaft and head. Borrowed early as the seventh earthly branch, marking 11am–1pm. From this came 中午, 上午, 下午. Indexed under Kangxi #24 十 (shí) via the crossed-stroke silhouette, though 午 isn't etymologically the numeral ten.
Filed under radical 十 (shí, #24) by convention. 十 is not a separate component in 午, so no strokes are highlighted.
