curfew

Meanings

1. Any regulation requiring people to be off the streets and in their homes by a certain time.
2. The time when such restriction begins.
3. A signal indicating this time.
4. A fireplace accessory designed to bank a fire by completely covering the embers.
5. A regulation in feudal Europe by which fires had to be covered up or put out at a certain fixed time in the evening, marked by the ringing of an evening bell.
6. The evening bell, which continued to be rung in many towns after the regulation itself became obsolete.

Etymology

From Middle English curfu, from Old French cuevre-fu (French couvre-feu), from the imperative of covrir (“to cover”) + fu (“fire”). Compare kerchief.