at midday, why not "at the midday"?

[moseen]

Why can't we say "at the midday"? we can "the middle of the day" but we can't say "at the midday", what is the difference between "midday" and "middle"?
The helicopter took off at midday and headed for the island.

 

[Tarheel]

In American English we would say "at noon" or "at midnight". Perhaps somebody knows why it is said that way.

 

[moseen]

In American English we would say "at noon" or "at midnight". Perhaps somebody knows why it is said that way.

is it because of "midday" is uncountable?

 

[GoesStation]

Is it because [strike]of[/strike] "midday" is uncountable?

I don't think so. We use at before stating the time something occurs: at six o'clock, at noon, at midnight,​ etc.

 

[moseen]

I don't think so. We use at before stating the time something occurs: at six o'clock, at noon, at midnight,​ etc.

Don't you say at the six o'clock? Because "six o'clock" is specific.

 

[GoesStation]

Don't you say at the six o'clock? Because "six o'clock" is specific.

No. In old texts you may see at the sixth hour, but we haven't used that construction for a very long time.

 

[moseen]

No. In old texts you may see at the sixth hour, but we haven't used that construction for a very long time.

If we say "in the midday", is it correct as grammatically?

 

[GoesStation]

If we say "in the midday", is it [strike]correct as[/strike] grammatically correct?

No. Midday takes "at". You can say "in the middle of the ​day", which I presume is the origin of the word "midday".