CURTAIN  , a See also:

• SCREEN (usually, but very doubtfully, connected with Lat. scrinium, a box for holding books, from scribere, to write; a connexion with Ger. Schranke, barrier, has been suggested)

screen of any textile material, See also:

• RUNNING

running by means of rings fixed to a See also:

• ROD (O.E. rodd, probably related to Norw. rudda, stick, rodda, stake)
• ROD, EDOUARD (1857-1910)

rod or See also:

• POLE (FAMILY)
• POLE, REGINALD (1500-1558)
• POLE, RICHARD DE LA (d. 1525)
• POLE, WILLIAM (1814—1900)

pole . Curtains are now used chiefly to See also:

• COVER (from the Fr. convert, from couvrir, to cover, Lat. cooperire)

cover windows and doors, but for many centuries every See also:

• BED
• BED (a common Teutonic word, cf. German Bett, probably connected with the Indo-European root bhodh, seen in the Lat. fodere, to dig; so " a dug-out place " for safe resting, or in the same sense as a garden " bed ")

bed of importance was surrounded by them, and sometimes, as in See also:

• FRANCE
• FRANCE, ANATOLE (1844– )

France, the space thus screened off was much larger than the actual bed and was called the ruelle . The curtain is very See also:

• ANCIENT
• ANCIENT (also spelt ANTIENT; derived, through the Fr. ancien, old, from the late Lat. antianum, from ante, before)

ancient—indeed the See also:

• ABSENCE (Lat. absentia)

absence of See also:

• GLASS
• GLASS (O.E. glees, cf. Ger. Glas, perhaps derived from an old Teutonic root gla-, a variant of glo-, having the general sense of shining, cf. " glare," " glow ")
• GLASS, STAINED

glass and See also:

• ILL

ill-fitting windows See also:

• LONG, GEORGE (1800-1879)
• LONG, JOHN DAVIS (1838– )

long made it a See also:

• NECESSITY (Lat. necessitas)

necessity . Originally single curtains were used; it would appear that it was not until the 17th See also:

• CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century that they were employed in pairs . Curtains are made in an See also:

• INFINITE (from Lat. in, not, finis, end or limit; cf. findere, to deave)

infinite variety of materials and styles; when placed over a See also:

• DOOR (corresponding to the Gr. Bbpa,. Lat. fores or valvae; the English word, with other forms common in allied languages, comes from the same Indo-European stem as the Gr. Obpa and Lat. fares)

door they are usually called portieres . In fortification the " curtain " is that See also:

• PART

part of the See also:

• ENCEINTE (Lat. in, within, cinctus, girdled; to be distinguished from the word meaning " pregnant," from in, not, and cinctus, i.e. with girdle loosened)

enceinte which lies between two bastions, towers, See also:

• GATES, HORATIO (1728-1806)

gates, &c . The word comes into See also:

• ENGLISH

English through the O . Fr. cortine or courtine from the See also:

• LATE

Late See also:

• LAT

Lat. cortina . According to Du Cange (Glossarium, s.v . " Cortis ") this is a diminutive of cortis, an enclosed space, a See also:

• COURT
• COURT (from the O. Fr. court, Late Lat. cortis, curtis, a popular form of class. Lat. cohors, gen. cohortis; the mod. Fr. form tour is due to the influence of the Lat. curia, the word used in medieval documents to translate " court " in the feudal sense)
• COURT, ANTOINE (1696-176o)

court . It is used in the various senses of the English " curtain." Classical Latin had also a word cortina, meaning a caldron or See also:

• ROUND (O. Fr. rond, Lat. rotundus, the Fr. is the source also of Du. rond; Ger., Swed., Dan. and Nor. rond)

round See also:

• KETTLE, SIR RUPERT ALFRED (1817-1894)

kettle . It was very rarely applied to round See also:

• OBJECTS

objects generally .

In the See also:

• VULGATE (from Lat. vulgus, the common people)

Vulgate cortina is used of the curtains of the See also:

• TABERNACLE
• TABERNACLE (Lat. tabernaculum, a hut, tent)

tabernacle (See also:

• EXODUS, BOOK OF
• EXODUS, THE

Exodus See also:

• XXVI

xxvi) . There is some difficulty in connecting the classical and the Late Latin words . The earliest use in English is, according to the New English See also:

• DICTIONARY

Dictionary, for the hangings of a bed .