curtain

[ kur-tn ]

noun

1. a hanging piece of fabric used to shut out the light from a window, adorn a room, increase privacy, etc.

   Synonyms: valance, lambrequin, portiere, drapery

2. a movable or folding screen used for similar purposes.
3. Chiefly New England. a window shade.
4. Theater.
   1. a set of hanging drapery for concealing all or part of the stage or set from the view of the audience.
   2. the act or time of raising or opening a curtain at the start of a performance:

      an 8:30 curtain.

   3. the end of a scene or act indicated by the closing or falling of a curtain:

      first-act curtain.

   4. an effect, line, or plot solution at the conclusion of a performance:

      a strong curtain; weak curtain.

   5. music signaling the end of a radio or television performance.
   6. (used as a direction in a script of a play to indicate that a scene or act is concluded.)
5. anything that shuts off, covers, or conceals:

   a curtain of artillery fire.

6. Architecture. a relatively flat or featureless extent of wall between two pavilions or the like.
7. Fortification. the part of a wall or rampart connecting two bastions, towers, or the like.
8. curtains, Slang. the end; death, especially by violence:

   It looked like curtains for another mobster.

verb (used with object)

1. to provide, shut off, conceal, or adorn with, or as if with, a curtain.

curtain

/ ˈkɜːtən /

noun

1. a piece of material that can be drawn across an opening or window, to shut out light or to provide privacy
2. a barrier to vision, access, or communication

   a curtain of secrecy

3. a hanging cloth or similar barrier for concealing all or part of a theatre stage from the audience
4. the curtain
   the curtain the end of a scene of a play, opera, etc, marked by the fall or closing of the curtain
5. the rise or opening of the curtain at the start of a performance

verb

1. trsometimes foll byoff to shut off or conceal with or as if with a curtain
2. tr to provide (a window, etc) with curtains

Other Words From

• curtain·less adjective
• un·curtained adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of curtain¹

1250–1300; Middle English co ( u ) rtine < Anglo-French, Old French < Late Latin cortīna, probably equivalent to co ( ho ) rt- (stem of cohors; court ) + -īna -ine ¹, as calque of Greek aulaía curtain, derivative of aulḗ courtyard

Word History and Origins

Origin of curtain¹

C13: from Old French courtine, from Late Latin cortīna enclosed place, curtain, probably from Latin cohors courtyard

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. draw the curtain on / over,
   1. to bring to a close:

      to draw the curtain on a long career of public service.

   2. to keep secret.
2. lift the curtain on,
   1. to commence; start.
   2. to make known or public; disclose:

      to lift the curtain on a new scientific discovery.

More idioms and phrases containing curtain

• draw the curtain
• raise the curtain
• ring down the curtain

Synonym Study

Curtain, blind, shade, shutter agree in being covers for a window, to shut out light or keep persons from looking in. Curtain, blind, and shade may mean a cover, usually of cloth, which can be rolled up and down inside the window. Curtain, however, may also refer to a drapery at a window; and a Venetian blind consists of slats mounted on tapes for drawing up or down and varying the pitch of the slats. Blind and shutter may mean a cover made of two wooden frames with movable slats, attached by hinges outside a window and pulled together or opened at will. Shutters may mean also a set of panels (wooden or iron) put up outside small shops or stores at closing time

Example Sentences

It also has pulled back the curtain on the significant limitations the IRS faces with technology and with its workforce.

From Washington Post

There are curtains in an off-site storage facility going back to at least the 1960s, she says, carefully preserved and wrapped in muslin.

From Washington Post

As the curtain of night falls, find the planet Mars high in the southwest heavens, hanging in the constellation Aries when February begins.

From Washington Post

That too is changing as we come to understand the wizard behind the curtain.

From Time

That is changing as we come to understand the wizard behind the curtain.

From Time

After the curtain calls, Christopher comes back to explain a complicated math problem.

From The Daily Beast

They keep their heads low while running behind a large curtain covering the opening between two housing blocks.

From The Daily Beast

For anyone who cared to watch, the event and its denouement provided a graphic demonstration that the Iron Curtain was crumbling.

From The Daily Beast

The last time a Pope addressed the parliament in Strasbourg was in 1988 when an Iron Curtain still divided the continent.

From The Daily Beast

The insurrectionists seemed actors in a surreal episode of revolutionary play-acting in which the curtain was about to fall.

From The Daily Beast

She walked away toward another door, which was masked with a curtain that she lifted.

From Project Gutenberg

I seized the opportunity to watch what I supposed would be a most interesting interview, from behind a curtain.

From Project Gutenberg

She thrust a bare, white arm from the curtain which shielded her open door, and received the cup from his hands.

From Project Gutenberg

We haven't even seen a review of the piece; the footlights go up with a jump, and now the curtain rises.

From Project Gutenberg

The overture is over, the curtain is about to rise on the drama of Georgie's married life.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• decoration
• drape
• drapery
• screen
• shade
• shroud
• shutter
• veil

More About Curtain

What does curtain mean?

A curtain is a sheet of fabric that’s typically hung from the wall or ceiling to cover or decorate a window or to separate two spaces, such as a theater’s stage from its seating area.

Along with blinds and shades, curtains are commonly used as window coverings in people’s homes. They can function to block light from the window, to cover it for privacy, or simply as decorations.

In the context of theater, curtain has several more specific uses. The literal curtain on a stage is used to conceal the stage until the performance is ready to be seen. The word is also used in a few figurative ways. It can refer to the starting time of a performance, as in Curtain is at 2 p.m. or We have a 7 o’clock curtain. This sense of the word refers to the when the literal curtain opens. Another sense of the word refers to when the curtain closes—it refers to the end of a scene or act, as in the second-act curtain. Curtain can also refer to the conclusion of a performance or a plot solution at the end, as in I liked the play, but I thought the curtain was weak. 

The fact that most plays end with the stage curtains being closed has led to the use of the word curtains as a slang expression referring to the end or death of something, often in an exaggerated way, as in It will be curtains for me if I don’t pass this test.

A curtain call is when the performers return to the stage to acknowledge continued applause from the audience at the end of the performance (often after the curtain has closed).

Example: I got a blackout curtain for my room that doesn’t let any sunlight in.

Where does curtain come from?

The first records of the word curtain come from the 1200s. It comes from Late Latin cortīna, meaning “enclosed place,” probably from the Latin cohors, meaning “courtyard.”

Curtains are most commonly associated with their use around windows, but they can also be used to separate other areas. Roommates might place a curtain between their sides of the room for privacy. A shower curtain is used to separate the shower stall from the rest of the bathroom.

More generally, the word curtain can refer to anything that shuts off, covers, or conceals. It can also be used in a more specific way in the context of architecture to refer to a flat or featureless wall between two things.

Did you know ... ?

What are some other forms related to curtain? 

• curtainless (adjective)
• uncurtained (adjective)

What are some synonyms for curtain?

• drape
• screen
• shade
• veil

What are some words that share a root or word element with curtain? 

• curtains
• be curtains for
• curtain call
• court

What are some words that often get used in discussing curtain?

• window
• stage
• shower
• rod
• bar
• privacy

How is curtain used in real life?

Curtains can be found in most homes. When used in the context of theater, the word curtain has many figurative meanings.

It is 83 degrees right now and rising.

I am sitting in my living room with my blackout curtain drawn so I don’t roast in my own skin.

What is happening

— ⚖️Imani Gandy ⚖️ (@AngryBlackLady) October 24, 2019

#breaking news my curtains are currently throwing shade at me… Should I be worried😁

— Liam (@LiamPayne) October 1, 2015

Reminder that new security arrangements in effect at Benedum Center. Easier than the airport but still a change. Allow a bit of extra time to make curtain. pic.twitter.com/4yrtugUKdu

— Bill Flanagan (@BillFlanagan) November 15, 2018

 

 

Try using curtain!

Which of the following words is NOT a synonym of curtain?

A. door
B. shade
C. screen
D. veil