curfew

curfew

English

WOTD – 3 October 2009

Alternative forms

• cover-few (obsolete)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɜː.fjuː/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɝ.fju/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

Noun

curfew (plural curfews)

1. Any regulation requiring people to be off the streets and in their homes by a certain time.
   • 2012 October 31, David M. Halbfinger, "Hurricane Sandy," New York Times (retrieved 31 October 2012):

     Localities across New Jersey imposed curfews to prevent looting. In Monmouth, Ocean and other counties, people waited for hours for gasoline at the few stations that had electricity. Supermarket shelves were stripped bare.

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. (historical) 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.
   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], OCLC 946730821:

     , Folio Society, 2006, vol.1, p.95:

     I have my lodging neere unto a tower, where both evening and morning a very great bell doth chime Ave marie and Cover-few, which jangling doth even make the tower to shake […].

Derived terms

• curfew pass

Translations

regulation requiring people to be off the streets and in their homes by a certain time

Afrikaans: aandklok Arabic: مَنْعُ التَّجَوُّل‎ m (manʿu t-tajawwul), حَظْرُ التَّجَوُّل‎ m (ḥaẓru t-tajawwul) Armenian: պարետային ժամ (hy) (paretayin žam) Azerbaijani: komendant saatı Belarusian: каменда́нцкая гадзі́на f (kamjendánckaja hadzína) Bulgarian: полице́йски час m (policéjski čas), вече́рен час m (večéren čas) Catalan: toc de queda (ca) m, cobrefoc (ca) m Chechen: please add this translation if you can Chinese: Mandarin: 宵禁 (zh) (xiāojìn), 門禁／门禁 (zh) (ménjìn) Czech: zákaz vycházení m Danish: udgangsforbud (da) n Dutch: avondklok (nl) f, uitgaansverbod (nl) n Esperanto: elirmalpermeso Estonian: liikumiskeeld Faroese: útigongubann n, útfaringarbann n Finnish: ulkonaliikkumiskielto (fi) French: couvre-feu (fr) m Galician: toque de queda (gl) m Georgian: კომენდანტის საათი (ḳomendanṭis saati) German: Ausgangssperre (de) f, Ausgehverbot n Greek: απαγόρευση κυκλοφορίας f (apagórefsi kykloforías) Hebrew: עוצר \\ עֹצֶר‎ m ('ótser) Hindi: करफ़्यू m (karafyū) Hungarian: kijárási tilalom (hu) Icelandic: útgöngubann n Indonesian: jam malam (id) Italian: coprifuoco (it) m Japanese: 戒厳令 (ja) (かいげんれい, kaigenrei), 外出禁止令 (がいしゅつきんしれい, gaishutsu kinshirei), 夜間外出禁止令 (やかんがいしゅつきんしれい, yakan gaishutsu kinshirei) (night time) Khmer: ខណ្ឌ (km) (khan) Korean: 통행금지령(通行禁止令) (tonghaenggeumjiryeong), 외출금지령(外出禁止令) (oechulgeumjiryeong), 통금(通禁) (tonggeum) Latvian: policijas stunda f, komandanta stunda f, komandantstunda f Lithuanian: komendanto valanda f Macedonian: полициски час m (policiski čas) Maori: rāhui haere pō, wā rāhui Norwegian: Bokmål: portforbud (no) n Nynorsk: portforbod n Papiamentu: toke de keda Persian: (please verify) حکومت نظامی‎ (fa) (hokumat nezâmi) Polish: godzina policyjna (pl) f Portuguese: toque de recolher (pt) m Romanian: interdicție de ieșire din casă f Russian: коменда́нтский час (ru) m (komendántskij čas) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: полицијски сат m, полицијски час m Roman: policijski sat m, policijski čas m Slovak: zákaz vychádzania m Slovene: policijska ura (sl) f Spanish: toque de queda (es), cubrefuego m Swedish: utegångsförbud (sv) n Tamil: ஊரடங்கு (ūraṭaṅku) Thai: เคอร์ฟิว (th) (kəə-fiu) Turkish: sokağa çıkma yasağı Ukrainian: коменда́нтська годи́на f (komendántsʹka hodýna) Uzbek: komendant soati Vietnamese: lệnh (vi) giới nghiêm (vi)

time when such restriction begins

Arabic: مَوْعِد الحَظْر‎ m (mawʿid al-ḥaẓr) Armenian: պարետային ժամ (hy) (paretayin žam) Catalan: toc de queda (ca) m Danish: spærretid c Dutch: avondklok (nl) f, spertijd (nl) m Finnish: ulkonaliikkumiskiellon alkamisaika German: Sperrstunde (de) f Italian: coprifuoco (it) m Japanese: 門限 (もんげん, mongen) Korean: 문한(門限) (ko) (munhan) Latvian: policijas stunda f, komandanta stunda f, komandantstunda f Romanian: oră de interdicție f Russian: коменда́нтский час (ru) m (komendántskij čas) Spanish: toque de queda (es) m Vietnamese: lúc (vi) giới nghiêm (vi)

signal indicating this time

Arabic: please add this translation if you can Catalan: toc de queda (ca) m Finnish: ulkonaliikkumiskiellon merkki French: couvre-feu (fr) m German: Zapfenstreich (de) m (military) Hindi: करफ़्यू m (karafyū) Italian: coprifuoco (it) m Portuguese: toque de recolher (pt) m Romanian: semnal de stingere, tocsin (ro) Spanish: toque de queda (es) m

fire accessory

Finnish: tulen peittävä suojus French: couvre-feu (fr) m

historical regulation requiring fire to be covered/extinguished

Arabic: please add this translation if you can Bulgarian: вече́рен час m (večéren čas) Finnish: määräys sammuttaa tulet yöksi French: couvre-feu (fr) m Italian: coprifuoco (it) m Middle English: curfu Romanian: stare de asediu (ro) f

evening bell

Arabic: please add this translation if you can Bulgarian: вече́рна камба́на (večérna kambána) Danish: aftenklokke c Dutch: avondklok (nl) f Finnish: iltasoitto French: couvre-feu (fr) m German: Abendläuten n Romanian: clopot de alarmă Swedish: aftonringning c

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Catalan: (please verify) toc de queda (ca) m Estonian: (please verify) komandanditund

See also

• lights-out
• lockdown
• martial law
• state of emergency
• state of siege
• stay-at-home order

 

Further reading

• curfew on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

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Middle English

Noun

curfew

1. Alternative form of curfu