Etymologically
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curtain

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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

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