A physical curtain or hanging cloth, often used in traditional or literary contexts. In modern everyday language, カーテン is more common.
The stage curtain quietly rose.
Metaphorical use, especially in the phrase 夜の帳 (veil of night). Describes darkness or mystery enveloping something like a curtain.
See also: 夜の帳
When the veil of night fell, the town grew quiet.
She quietly lowered the curtain.
A veil of darkness had already fallen over the town.
カーテン is the ordinary modern word for a curtain, while 帳 is a literary, old-fashioned term used mainly in poetic or traditional contexts.
幕 refers to a curtain or screen used in theaters, ceremonies, or partitions, whereas 帳 is a softer, more poetic word for a hanging cloth or veil-like covering.
Written identically as 帳, but read ちょう it means a notebook or ledger, a completely different word from とばり meaning curtain or veil.
curtains and similar hanging cloths are naturally counted with 張.
Standard kanji spelling for curtain and the metaphorical veil sense.
Kana spelling is common in modern writing, especially for the metaphorical sense.
Rarely used kanji form.
Rarely used kanji form.
Rarely used kanji form.
The historical derivation is uncertain. The kanji 帳 is conventionally associated with curtain or hanging cloth.