curtal meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

curtal

noun

UK /ˈkəːtəl/

Etymology From older French courtault (modern French courtaud), from court (“short”) + -ault (pejorative suffix).

Historical A variety of short-barrelled cannon.

Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music An early type of bassoon.

Obsolete A horse or other animal having a docked tail.

Obsolete Anything docked or cut short.

adj

Etymology From older French courtault (modern French courtaud), from court (“short”) + -ault (pejorative suffix).

Obsolete Of horses, having a docked tail.

Archaic Physically shortened; short.

she had loosened her hair and changed into the curtal frock of sunbright cotton that he was so fond of and had so ardently yearned to soil in the so recent past.1969, Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor, Penguin, published 2011, page 98:

Obsolete Abridged, curtailed.

essays and curtal aphorisms1649, J[ohn] Milton, ΕΙΚΟΝΟΚΛΆΣΤΗΣ [Eikonoklástēs] […], London: […] Matthew Simmons, […], →OCLC: