Bedtime
nounThe time at which a person normally goes to bed to sleep.
How to spell bedtime
7 letters · 2 syllables
How to pronounce bedtime
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does bedtime mean?
- nounThe time at which a person normally goes to bed to sleep.
Bedtime in a sentence
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The children always read a short story before bedtime.
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A warm bath helps her relax in the hour before bedtime.
Where does bedtime come from?
Language of origin: Germanic
This is a transparent English compound, formed by joining 'bed' and 'time', both of which are native words descended from Old English. 'Bed' comes from the Old English 'bedd', meaning a sleeping place or a garden plot, ultimately from a Germanic root linked to digging, since the earliest beds were essentially dug-out or padded resting spots. 'Time' derives from Old English 'tima', meaning a period, season, or appointed moment, related to the idea of something divided or measured out. The two were welded together to name the appointed hour for going to sleep, with the compound well established in English by the 1500s. Because both halves are everyday words spelled exactly as they sound, the word holds no real surprises beyond remembering it is written as a single closed unit.
How the word is built
- bed (resting place for sleep)
- time (a point or period in time)
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