bedtime
The time or hour at which one retires to bed in order to sleep.
Noun
- The time or hour at which one retires to bed in order to sleep.
- I read every evening, sometimes late into the night, with the help of kerosene lamps, often secretly, past my bedtime. - 2004, Vartan Gregorian, The Road to Home: My Life and Times, page 55:
- 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...
Origin
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”).
Forms
Derived
bedtime procrastination bedtime story prebedtime tears before bedtime