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I'm hearing the current measures taken during the current coronavirus pandemic referred to in the media as "curfews". To me the word "curfew" implies that people are required to behave a certain way during certain hours of the day. The definitions I've seen given tend to agree with my instinct. In other words, requiring people to be off the streets and in their homes after 6 pm or before 8 am sounds like a curfew to me, but a constant lockdown or what some are calling "shelter in place" doesn't.

n.
1. A regulation or rule requiring certain or all people to leave the streets or be at home at a prescribed hour.
2.
a. The time at which such a restriction begins or is in effect: a 10 pm curfew for all residents.
b. The signal, such as a bell, announcing the beginning of this restriction.
American Heritage Dictionary

n.
1. an order establishing a time in the evening after which certain regulations apply, esp. that no unauthorized persons may be outdoors or that places of public assembly must be closed.
2. a regulation requiring a person to be home at a stated time, as one imposed by a parent on a child.
3. the time at which a daily curfew starts.
Random House Kernerman Webster's Dicitonary

2a : a regulation enjoining the withdrawal of usually specified persons (such as juveniles or military personnel) from the streets or the closing of business establishments or places of assembly at a stated hour The city ordered a curfew to prevent further rioting.
b : a requirement that someone (typically a child) be home by a particular time Instead, [parents] should make a point of enforcing curfews and standards of behavior that reflect their family's values …— Pam Carroll
Merriam-Webster Dictionary

1A regulation requiring people to remain indoors between specified hours, typically at night. ‘a dusk-to-dawn curfew’
Oxford dictionaries (at lexico.com

A curfew is an order specifying a time during which certain regulations apply.1 Typically it refers to the time when individuals are required to return to and stay in their homes.
Curfew (Wikipedia)

However it's possible that the Collins Dictionary definitions describes the current public health measures, as it doesn't seem to require a time component:

n
1. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) an official regulation setting restrictions on movement, esp after a specific time at night
2. the time set as a deadline by such a regulation
Collins Dictionary

Edit: India has recently ordered people to stay off the streets between 7 am and 9 pm. Some people consider a curfew to specifically restrict movement after dark, but to me this sounds like a curfew. I guess you could describe it as a reverse curfew as people are only allowed out at night.

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  • The etymology of "curfew" is informative. Etymology online at etymonline.com/word/curfew says: from Old French cuevrefeu, literally "cover fire". It further says it was signaled by a bell rung at 8 or 9 PM. All that said, I agree that "sheltering in place" does not have the same time component; there is no fire to be covered.
    – rajah9
    Commented Mar 21, 2020 at 19:44
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    Any body with sufficient clout can impose a stipulative definition (which may cut across the lexical definition/s) on a term as it sees fit.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Mar 21, 2020 at 19:51
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    The terminology being used is all over the map, and you can't really assume that a term means what you think it does or what it "normally" means. "Lockdown", for instance, probably originates from jails and prisons where inmates would sometimes be locked in their cells for extended periods (due to an altercation, eg). It doesn't imply simply being told to stay in your home.
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Mar 21, 2020 at 19:51
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    I find that, in English, (a) there are very, very few true synonyms (b) purveyors of the news for the sons and daughters of gentlefolk are not adverse to drama in order to increase profits. A curfew, given its age and Norman origins, is legal, formal, and specific as to persons, place, and time, A lockdown, particularly a constant one, is more dramatic, informal and non-specific because of its indefinite nature - nobody goes anywhere at any time.-- If you accept the distinction, Lockdowns are continuous, curfews are continual.
    – Greybeard
    Commented Mar 21, 2020 at 20:43
  • Relevant (but not a duplicate): english.stackexchange.com/questions/526457/…
    – Mitch
    Commented Mar 21, 2020 at 21:55

1 Answer 1

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Your definition is right. Have you heard someone use curfew to mean lockdown? If you have, it was a mistake.

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  • A lot of people (mostly in the USA) are referring to the lockdown in highly emotional, exaggerated ways, likening mask-wearing to slavery, etc.
    – Max Williams
    Commented Aug 19, 2020 at 9:09

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