# curtain

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈkɜːtn̩/ · frequency rank #8,776

## Definitions
1. A piece of cloth covering a window, bed, etc. to offer privacy and keep out light.
2. A similar piece of cloth that separates the audience and the stage in a theater.
3. The beginning of a show; the moment the curtain rises.
4. The flat area of wall which connects two bastions or towers; the main area of a fortified wall.
5. Death, final curtain.
6. That part of a wall of a building which is between two pavilions, towers, etc.
7. A flag; an ensign.
8. The uninterrupted stream of fluid that falls onto a moving substrate in the process of curtain coating.

## Etymology
Inherited from Middle English curtine, from Old French cortine, from Late Latin cōrtīna (“curtain”), a calque from Ancient Greek.

## Easily confused with
- **Curtis** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/curtain-vs-curtis)
- **Curtin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/curtain-vs-curtin)
- **curtains** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/curtain-vs-curtains)
- **Curran** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/curran-vs-curtain)
- **certain** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/certain-vs-curtain)
- **captain** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/captain-vs-curtain)
- **contain** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/contain-vs-curtain)
- **curtail** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/curtail-vs-curtain)

## Common misspellings (10)
`ccurtain`, `crutain`, `curatin`, `currtain`, `curtainn`, `curtani`, `curtian`, `curttain`, `cutrain`, `ucrtain`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/curtain