This is the 301st most frequent French word.
h
The French letter "h" is a silent or aspirated consonant, not pronounced in most cases, but it can affect liaison and elision rules.
Here, 'h' appears within 'heure' meaning 'hour' or 'time', to denote a specific moment in time.
L'heure du départ approche.
The departure time is approaching.
In this instance, 'h' is part of the Roman numeral 'Xᵉ', though not directly used here, it relates to historical contexts where time is delineated.
La ville a été construite au Xᵉ siècle.
The city was built in the 10th century.
The 'h' denotes 'heure' signifying the hour, used commonly to denote time in a 24-hour format.