Curtain
/ˈkɜːr.teɪn/noun
A hanging screen or piece of fabric used to cover or divide a space.
Did you know?The word entered English through Old French from Latin *cortina*, a term for a round vessel or cauldron, and in late medieval use it came to mean a hanging screen or enclosure.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ḱer-
“to enclose, surround”
Latin
Latin
cortina
“a round vessel, cauldron; later a covering or curtain”
Old French
OF
cortine
“curtain, hanging screen”
Middle English
English
curtayn
“a hanging screen or drape”
Modern English
English
curtain
“a hanging cloth used to cover, divide, or decorate a space”