bedtime

/ˈbɛdtaɪm/

bedtime means the time or hour at which one retires to bed in order to sleep.

Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, bedtime ranks #1,198 of 42,747 for Qualifying.

bedtime is pronounced /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”).

noun

The time or hour at which one retires to bed in order to sleep.e.g.“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:

Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Words closest in meaning

By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.

sleeptime 74% match — The time at which one sleeps or goes to sleep. vs bedtime →
downlying 73% match — The time of retiring to rest. vs bedtime →
bedward 58% match — Toward bed. vs bedtime →
nighttime 58% match — The hours of darkness between sunset and sunrise; the night. vs bedtime →
bedwise 57% match — With regard to a bed or beds; often in allusion to sex. vs bedtime →
beddy 57% match — bed vs bedtime →
bedmate 56% match — A person with whom one shares a bed. vs bedtime →
compline 56% match — The last of the canonical hours, sung just before retiring to bed. vs bedtime →