Etymology

bedtime

B3E1D2T1I1M3E1

Today it means: The time or hour at which one retires to bed in order to sleep. Full definition →

Middle English bedtyme
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Middle English · inherited frombedtyme
  2. English todaybedtime

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”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.