bedtime

English

Etymology

From Middle English bedtyme, bed-tyme, bedetyme, bedde tyme, equivalent to bed +‎ time. Compare earlier Old English bedtīd (“bedtime”). Compare also West Frisian bêdtiid (“bedtime”), Dutch bedtijd (“bedtime”), Saterland Frisian Bädegungenstied (“bedtime”, literally “bed-goings-time”), German Low German Beddgahnstied, Bettgahnstiet (“bedtime”, literally “bed-goings-time”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: bĕdʹtīm, IPA^(key): /ˈbɛdtaɪm/

• Audio (US):

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Noun

bedtime (countable and uncountable, plural bedtimes)

1. The time or hour at which one retires to bed in order to sleep.
   • 1908 September 23, “In Turkey”, in A[rthur] H[amilton] Folwell, editor, Puck, volume LXIV, number 1647, New York, N.Y.: Keppler & Schwarzmann, →OCLC:

     The Sultan (impatiently).—Confound this dadblasted collar-bolt! I wish it had— Izzet Aintit Wazzit Pasha (custodian of the imperial wardrobe).—Can I be of any assistance, Sire? The Sultan.—Well, you might get a can of oil and a monkey-wrench and help me off with this undershirt. It’s long past bedtime now.

   • 2004, Vartan Gregorian, The Road to Home: My Life and Times, page 55:

     I read every evening, sometimes late into the night, with the help of kerosene lamps, often secretly, past my bedtime.

   • 2013 July 19, Ian Sample, “Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 34:

     Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits.
     Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.

Derived terms

• bedtime procrastination
• bedtime story
• prebedtime
• tears before bedtime

Translations

time when one goes to bed to sleep

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: време за лягане (vreme za ljagane)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 就寢時間 / 就寝时间 (jiùqǐn shíjiān)

• Danish: sengetid (da) c
• Dutch: bedtijd (nl) f, kinderbedtijd (nl) f
• Esperanto: dormohoro
• Finnish: nukkumaanmenoaika (fi)
• French: heure du coucher f, dodo (fr) m
• Georgian: ძილის დრო (ʒilis dro), დაძინების დრო (daʒinebis dro)
• German: Schlafenszeit (de) f, Zeit zum Schlafengehen f, Zeit ins Bett zu gehen f, Zeit zu Bett zu gehen f
• Hindi: please add this translation if you can
• Hungarian: lefekvési idő, lefekvés ideje
• Irish: am luí m
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Khmer: ម៉ោងចូលគេង (maongcoulkeing)
• Korean: 취침 시간 (chwichim sigan)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: کاتی خەوتن (katî xewtin)

  Northern Kurdish: dema raketinê

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sengetid (no) m or f, leggetid m or f

  Nynorsk: sengetid f, sengtid f, leggetid f, leggjetid f

• Old English: bedtīd f
• Portuguese: hora de dormir f
• Romanian: timpul de culcare
• Russian: вре́мя ложи́ться спать n (vrémja ložítʹsja spatʹ), отбо́й (ru) (otbój)
• Spanish: hora de dormir f
• Sudovian: gulta f
• Swedish: läggdags (sv), sängdags (sv), sovdags (sv), nanedags (sv)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: uyku vakti, yatma vakti
• Ukrainian: please add this translation if you can
• Vietnamese: giờ đi ngủ
• Volapük: slipüp, slipatim (vo)

Anagrams

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