bedtime

nouncommon in dialogue

//ˈbɛdtaɪm//

The time or hour at which one retires to bed in order to sleep.

noun

1
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.
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.

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”).

Forms

plural: bedtimes

Bedford · A place name: A number of places in the United Kingdom A…bedroom · A room in a house, apartment, hotel, or other dwelling where…bedside · A position at the side of one's bed.

bedtime · The time or hour at which one retires to bed in order to sleep.

bee · A flying insect, of the clade Anthophila within the…Bee · someone connected with Barnet Football Club, as a fan,…beef · The meat from cattle or other bovines; especially, that from…

The neighbouring pages — Alphabetical order follows the rules of the language, not byte values: an accent decides only between two otherwise identical words, and Spanish files Ñ as a letter of its own.