curtain

[kur-tn]

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR curtain ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

a movable or folding screen used for similar purposes.

Chiefly New England. a window shade.

Theater.

a set of hanging drapery for concealing all or part of the stage or set from the view of the audience.
the act or time of raising or opening a curtain at the start of a performance: an 8:30 curtain.
the end of a scene or act indicated by the closing or falling of a curtain: first-act curtain.
an effect, line, or plot solution at the conclusion of a performance: a strong curtain; weak curtain.
music signaling the end of a radio or television performance.
(used as a direction in a script of a play to indicate that a scene or act is concluded.)

anything that shuts off, covers, or conceals: a curtain of artillery fire.

Architecture. a relatively flat or featureless extent of wall between two pavilions or the like.

Fortification. the part of a wall or rampart connecting two bastions, towers, or the like.

curtains, Slang. the end; death, especially by violence: It looked like curtains for another mobster.

verb (used with object)

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

Idioms

draw the curtain on/over,

to bring to a close: to draw the curtain on a long career of public service.
to keep secret.

lift the curtain on,

to commence; start.
to make known or public; disclose: to lift the curtain on a new scientific discovery.

Origin of curtain

1250–1300; Middle English co(u)rtine < Anglo-French, Old French < Late Latin cortīna, probably equivalent to co(ho)rt- (stem of cohors; see court) + -īna -ine¹, as calque of Greek aulaía curtain, derivative of aulḗ courtyard

Related formscur·tain·less, adjectiveun·cur·tained, adjective

Synonyms for curtain

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR curtain ON THESAURUS.COM

1. drapery, portiere, lambrequin, valance.

Synonym study

1, 3. 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

Regional variation note

3. See window shade.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for curtain

decoration, drape, screen, shutter, shroud, shade, veil, drapery, blind, rag, shield, film, hanging, jalousie, valance, oleo, portiere, roller

Examples from the Web for curtain

Contemporary Examples of curtain

After the curtain calls, Christopher comes back to explain a complicated math problem.
Hedwig, Hugh & Michael Cera: 12 Powerhouse Theater Performances of 2014
Janice Kaplan
December 31, 2014
The insurrectionists seemed actors in a surreal episode of revolutionary play-acting in which the curtain was about to fall.
East Ukraine: Back in the USSR
Jamie Dettmer
November 19, 2014
“It was like a curtain was beginning to be opened,” says Noor, who was surprised by the blunt request.
Obama’s Deadly Informants: The Drone Spotters of Pakistan
Umar Farooq, Syed Fakhar Kakakhel
November 12, 2014
So, what might have occurred on the other side of the curtain?
Why North Korea Released Two Americans
Gordon G. Chang
November 9, 2014
From behind a curtain, Trudeau is politely coaching the actors through the scene, encouraging them to go bigger.
Inside the Political Fun House: How ‘Alpha House’ Became Amazon’s First Big Hit
Kevin Fallon
October 24, 2014

Historical Examples of curtain

As she spoke, Geta lifted the curtain, and Philothea instantly obeyed the signal.
Philothea
Lydia Maria Child
The bell had rung—the curtain was up and the performances were about to begin.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. 327
Various
Just then the curtain rose again, and the play of the "Serious Family," commenced.
Life in London
Edwin Hodder
At length the curtain fell, and the evening's performance was over.
Life in London
Edwin Hodder
Curtain rises on second act, showing the Hotel Fonseca, at Paris.
Punchinello, Vol. 1, No. 8, May 21, 1870
Various

British Dictionary definitions for curtain

curtain

noun

a piece of material that can be drawn across an opening or window, to shut out light or to provide privacy

a barrier to vision, access, or communicationa curtain of secrecy

a hanging cloth or similar barrier for concealing all or part of a theatre stage from the audience

the curtain the end of a scene of a play, opera, etc, marked by the fall or closing of the curtain

the rise or opening of the curtain at the start of a performance

verb

(tr sometimes foll by off) to shut off or conceal with or as if with a curtain

(tr) to provide (a window, etc) with curtains

Word Origin for curtain

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for curtain

c.1300, from Old French cortine "curtain, tapestry, drape, blanket," from Late Latin cortina "curtain," but in classical Latin "round vessel, cauldron," from Latin cortem (older cohortem) "enclosure, courtyard" (see cohort). The confusion apparently begins in using cortina as a loan-translation for Greek aulaia ("curtain") in the Vulgate (to render Hebrew yeriah in Exodus xxvi:1, etc.) because the Greek word was connected to aule "court," perhaps because the "door" of a Greek house that led out to the courtyard was a hung cloth. The figurative sense in curtain call is from 1884. Curtains "the end" is 1912, originally from stage plays.

Idioms and Phrases with curtain

curtain

In addition to the idioms beginning with curtain

curtain raiser
curtains for, be.

also see:

draw the curtain
raise the curtain
ring down the curtain