bedtime
noun/ˈbɛdtaɪm/
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”).
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.2004, Vartan Gregorian, The Road to Home: My Life and Times, page 55:
- 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:
- Derived terms
- bedtime procrastination, bedtime story, prebedtime, tears before bedtime