Etymology

curfew

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Today it means: Any regulation requiring people to be off the streets and in their homes by a certain time. Full definition →

Middle English curfu ← Old French cuevre-fu
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The story

  1. Old French · derived fromcuevre-fu
  2. Middle English · inherited fromcurfu
  3. English todaycurfew

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

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.