cur·few
(kûr′fyo͞o)n.1. A regulation or rule requiring certain or all people to leave the streets or be at home at a prescribed hour.
2. a. The time at which such a restriction begins or is in effect: a 10 pm curfew for all residents.
b. The signal, such as a bell, announcing the beginning of this restriction.
[Middle English curfeu, from Old French cuevrefeu : covrir, to cover; see cover + feu, fire (from Latin focus, hearth).]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
curfew
(ˈkɜːfjuː) n1. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) an official regulation setting restrictions on movement, esp after a specific time at night
2. the time set as a deadline by such a regulation
3. (Historical Terms) (in medieval Europe)
a. the ringing of a bell to prompt people to extinguish fires and lights
b. the time at which the curfew bell was rung
c. the bell itself
[C13: from Old French cuevrefeu, literally: cover the fire]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
cur•few
(ˈkɜr fyu)
n. 1. an order establishing a time in the evening after which certain regulations apply, esp. that no unauthorized persons may be outdoors or that places of public assembly must be closed.
2. a regulation requiring a person to be home at a stated time, as one imposed by a parent on a child.
3. the time at which a daily curfew starts.
4. the period during which a curfew is in effect.
5. a signal, as the ringing of a bell, announcing the start of the time of a curfew.
6. a bell for sounding a curfew.
7. (in medieval Europe) the ringing of a bell at a fixed hour in the evening as a signal for covering or extinguishing fires.
[1250–1300; Middle English < Anglo-French coverfeu, Old French covrefeu literally, (it) covers (the) fire. See cover, focus]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.