curtail

1
[ ker-teyl ]
/ kərˈteɪl /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR curtail ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to cut short; cut off a part of; abridge; reduce; diminish.

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Origin of curtail

1
1425–75; late Middle English curtailen to restrict (said of royal succession or inheritance), probably a conflation of Middle French courtau(l)d (see curtal) and Middle English taillen to cut (see taille, tailor1)

OTHER WORDS FROM curtail

Words nearby curtail

cursor, cursorial, cursory, curst, curt, curtail, curtail step, curtain, curtain call, curtain lecture, curtain line

Definition for curtail (2 of 2)

curtail2
[ kur-teyl ]
/ ˈkɜrˌteɪl /

noun Architecture.

a horizontal, spiral termination to the lower end of a stair railing.
Also called curtail step. a starting step having a scroll termination to one or both ends of the tread.

Origin of curtail

2
probably alteration, by folk etymology, of curtal
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to curtail

trim, halt, reduce, shorten, downsize, decrease, slash, lessen, diminish, cramp, cut, clip, truncate, retrench, contract, chop, dock, lop, abbreviate, minify

Example sentences from the Web for curtail

British Dictionary definitions for curtail

curtail
/ (kɜːˈteɪl) /

verb

(tr) to cut short; abridge

Derived forms of curtail

curtailer, nouncurtailment, noun

Word Origin for curtail

C16: changed (through influence of tail 1) from obsolete curtal to dock; see curtal
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012