curtain

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈkɜːtn̩/ (UK); /ˈkɜɹt(ə)n/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English curtine, borrowed from Old French cortine (“curtain, tapestry”),^[2][3][4] from Late Latin cortīna (“curtain”), in classical Latin a round vessel or cauldron,^[3][4] which in the Vulgate translated Ancient Greek αὐλαία (aulaía, “curtain”), from αὐλή (aulḗ, “court”),^[2][3][5] as if from Latin cohors (“enclosure, courtyard”) (stem cort-; see court).^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A piece of cloth hung as a screen, enclosing a bed or closing an opening: before 1186 in the OED, about 1300 in Etymonline, about 1303 (curteyn) in Barnhart.^[6][3][2]

Semantic evolution

Figuratively, something that screens or conceals, it is from the early 15th century.^[3] The screen hiding a theatre stage is from the 1590s,^[3][6] and many figurative uses come from the stage: behind the curtain (1670s), the curtain call (1884) and curtains, the end, by 1912.^[3] To draw the curtain has meant both to conceal and to reveal since about 1500.^[3] The verb, to enclose with a curtain, is from about 1300.^[3] An Old English word for a curtain was flēonet (“fly-net”).^[3]

Timeline

• before 1186 – a hanging screen.^[6]
• early 15th century – figurative screen.^[3]
• 1599 – a theatre curtain.^[6]
• 1884 – curtain call.^[3]
• 1912 – curtains, the end.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A piece of cloth hung across a window or opening to shut out light or give privacy.
2. The screen separating a theatre stage from the audience, or its raising or lowering.
3. Something that acts as a screen or barrier: a curtain of secrecy.
4. Curtains: (informal) the end, especially death.

Verb

1. To provide with a curtain, or to shut off with one.

Word family

• curtainless
• curtain-raiser
• lace-curtain
• curtain call
• act curtain
• bamboo curtain
• curtain lecture
• curtain time

Related words

• court
• cohort
• courtyard
• iron curtain

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press