an order establishing a specific time in the evening after which certain regulations apply, esp. that no civilians or other specified group of unauthorized persons may be outdoors or that places of public assembly must be closed.
2.
a regulation requiring a person to be home at a certain prescribed time, as imposed by a parent on a child.
3.
the time at which a daily curfew starts.
4.
the period during which a curfew is in effect.
5.
a signal, usually made with a bell, announcing the start of the time of restrictions under a curfew.
6.
a bell for sounding a curfew.
7.
(in medieval Europe) the ringing of a bell at a fixed hour in the evening as a signal for covering or extinguishing fires.
8.
a metal cover for shielding a banked or unattended fire.
[Origin: 1250–1300; ME < AF coverfeu, OF covrefeu lit., (it) covers (the) fire. See cover, focus]
c.1320, from Anglo-Fr. coeverfu (1285), from O.Fr. covrefeu, lit. "cover fire," from couvre, imper. of couvrir "to cover" + feu "fire." The medieval practice of ringing a bell at fixed time in the evening as an order to bank the hearths and prepare for sleep. The original purpose was to prevent conflagrations from untended fires. The modern extended sense of "periodic restriction of movement" had evolved by 1800s.
Cov"er\ (k?v"?r), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Covered (-?rd); p. pr. & vb. n. Covering.] [OF. covrir, F. couvrir, fr. L. cooperire; co- + operire to cover; probably fr. ob towards, over + the root appearing in aperire to open. Cf. Aperient, Overt, Curfew.]1. To overspread the surface of (one thing) with another; as, to cover wood with paint or lacquer; to cover a table with a cloth. 2. To envelop; to clothe, as with a mantle or cloak. And with the majesty of darkness round Covers his throne. --Milton. All that beauty than doth cover thee. --Shak. 3. To invest (one's self with something); to bring upon (one's self); as, he covered himself with glory. The powers that covered themselves with everlasting infamy by the partition of Poland. --Brougham. 4. To hide sight; to conceal; to cloak; as, the enemy were covered from our sight by the woods. A cloud covered the mount. --Exod. xxiv. 15. In vain shou striv'st to cover shame with shame. --Milton. 5. To brood or sit on; to incubate. While the hen is covering her eggs, the male . . . diverts her with his songs. --Addison. 6. To overwhelm; to spread over. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen. --Ex. xiv. 28. 7. To shelter, as from evil or danger; to protect; to defend; as, the cavalry covered the retreat. His calm and blameless life Does with substantial blessedness abound, And the soft wings of peace cover him round. --Cowley. 8. To remove from remembrance; to put away; to remit. "Blessed is he whose is covered." --Ps. xxxii. 1. 9. To extend over; to be sufficient for; to comprehend, include, or embrace; to account for or solve; to counterbalance; as, a mortgage which fully covers a sum loaned on it; a law which covers all possible cases of a crime; receipts than do not cover expenses. 10. To put the usual covering or headdress on. Cover thy head . . .; nay, prithee, be covered. --Shak. 11. To copulate with (a female); to serve; as, a horse covers a mare; -- said of the male. To coverground or distance, to pass over; as, the rider covered the ground in an hour. To cover one's short contracts (Stock Exchange), to buy stock when the market rises, as a dealer who has sold short does in order to protect himself. Covering party (Mil.), a detachment of troops sent for the protection of another detachment, as of men working in the trenches. To cover into, to transfer to; as, to cover into the treasury. Syn: To shelter; screen; shield; hide; overspread.
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