bedtime

B3E1D2T1I1M3E1
/ˈbɛdtaɪm/

noun

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

OriginMiddle English bedtyme →
Less commonScrabble 12
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounbedtime (countable and uncountable, plural bedtimes)

plural bedtimes

  1. countableuncountableThe 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.

    2004, Vartan Gregorian, The Road to Home: My Life and Times, page 55
    2 more examples

    The Sultan (impatiently).—Confound this dadblasted collar-bolt! I wish it had— Izzet Aintit Wazzit Pasha (custodian of the imperial wardrobe).—Can I be of any assistance, Sire? The Sultan.—Well, you might get a can of oil and a monkey-wrench and help me off with this undershirt. It’s long past bedtime now.

    1908 September 23, “In Turkey”, in A[rthur] H[amilton] Folwell, editor, Puck, volume LXIV, number 1647, New York, N.Y.: Keppler & Schwarzmann, →OCLC

    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.

    2013 July 19, Ian Sample, “Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 34

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
sleeptime

Origin

  1. Middle Englishbedtyme
  2. Englishbedtime

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”).

More words from Middle English

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian време за лягане
  • време за лягане (vreme za ljagane)time when one goes to bed to sleep
Chinese Mandarin 就寢時間 /就寝时间
  • 就寢時間 /就寝时间 (jiùqǐn shíjiān)time when one goes to bed to sleep
Danish sengetid
  • sengetidtime when one goes to bed to sleep
Dutch bedtijd, kinderbedtijd
  • bedtijdtime when one goes to bed to sleep
  • kinderbedtijdtime when one goes to bed to sleep
Esperanto dormohoro
  • dormohorotime when one goes to bed to sleep
Finnish nukkumaanmenoaika
  • nukkumaanmenoaikatime when one goes to bed to sleep
French heure du coucher, dodo
  • heure du couchertime when one goes to bed to sleep
  • dodotime when one goes to bed to sleep
German Schlafenszeit, Zeit zum Schlafengehen
  • Schlafenszeittime when one goes to bed to sleep
  • Zeit zum Schlafengehentime when one goes to bed to sleep
  • Zeit ins Bett zu gehentime when one goes to bed to sleep
  • Zeit zu Bett zu gehentime when one goes to bed to sleep
Hungarian lefekvési idő, lefekvés ideje
  • lefekvési időtime when one goes to bed to sleep
  • lefekvés idejetime when one goes to bed to sleep
Irish am luí
  • am luítime when one goes to bed to sleep
Korean 취침 시간
  • 취침 시간 (chwichim sigan)time when one goes to bed to sleep
Norwegian Bokmål sengetid, leggetid
  • sengetidtime when one goes to bed to sleep
  • leggetidtime when one goes to bed to sleep
Portuguese hora de dormir
  • hora de dormirtime when one goes to bed to sleep
Romanian timpul de culcare
  • timpul de culcaretime when one goes to bed to sleep
Russian вре́мя ложи́ться спать, отбо́й
  • вре́мя ложи́ться спать (vrémja ložítʹsja spatʹ)time when one goes to bed to sleep
  • отбо́й (otbój)time when one goes to bed to sleep
Spanish hora de dormir
  • hora de dormirtime when one goes to bed to sleep
Swedish läggdags, sängdags
  • läggdagstime when one goes to bed to sleep
  • sängdagstime when one goes to bed to sleep
  • sovdagstime when one goes to bed to sleep
  • nanedagstime when one goes to bed to sleep
Turkish uyku vakti, yatma vakti
  • uyku vaktitime when one goes to bed to sleep
  • yatma vaktitime when one goes to bed to sleep
Vietnamese giờ đi ngủ
  • giờ đi ngủtime when one goes to bed to sleep
Cite this entry
APA

bedtime. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bedtime

MLA

“bedtime.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bedtime. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bedtime,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bedtime.

Source: bedtime on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.