bedtime
/ˈbɛdtaɪm/noun
bedtime is spelled B-E-D-T-I-M-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 3.6 times per million words in written English, the 13,695th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, bedtime means “The time or hour at which one retires to bed in order to sleep” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of bedtime is bedtimes.
How many letters and syllables are in bedtime?
| Letters | 7: B-E-D-T-I-M-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.6 times per million words; the 13,695th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is bedtime?
Bedtime appears 3.6 times per million words in written English, the 13,695th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce bedtime?
- /ˈbɛdtaɪm/
Bedtime has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-bedtime.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with bedtime
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: bed-time (one word or two).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of bedtime
- bedtimes plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does bedtime mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The time or hour at which one retires to bed in order to sleep.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Bedtime in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense time when one goes to bed to sleep:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | heure du coucher, dodo |
| German | Schlafenszeit, Zeit zum Schlafengehen, Zeit ins Bett zu gehen, Zeit zu Bett zu gehen |
| Portuguese | hora de dormir |
| Spanish | hora de dormir |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does bedtime come from?
From Middle English bedtyme, bed-tyme, bedetyme, bedde tyme, equivalent to bed + time. Compare earlier Old English bedtīd (“bedtime”). Compare also West Frisian bêdtiid (“bedtime”), Dutch bedtijd (“bedtime”), Saterland Frisian Bädegungenstied (“bedtime”, literally “bed-goings-time”), German Low German Beddgahnstied, Bettgahnstiet (“bedtime”, literally “bed-goings-time”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).