Curfew comes from the French word cuevrefeu which means “cover (the) fire”. A bell would toll and the citizens would have to bank the hearths for the night else an unwatched fire might go out of control and burn down the village.
Curfew William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 9-2-19
I really enjoy these tidbits of information. I have learned a lot! Thank you, Bill,Sr!
It’s interesting how we transpose the v and the re in French words like this, that we take up into English. “cur-few”, but the French is “coo-vre-fu”. The same happens with “hors d’oeuvre”-we pronounce it “or-derve”, but its native pronunciation is “or-doo-vreh”. “Favre”, too, we pronounce as “farve”, but the original French is “fah-vreh”.