curtal

[kur-tl]

adjective

Archaic. wearing a short frock: a curtal friar.
Obsolete. brief; curtailed.

noun

a 16th-century bassoon.
Obsolete. an animal with a docked tail.

Origin of curtal

1500–10; earlier courtault < Middle French, equivalent to court short (see curt) + -ault, variant of -ald noun suffix; see ribald

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for curtal

Historical Examples of curtal

Now I may go in and out as I will, being a curtal friar and not now remembered in these parts.
Robin Hood
Paul Creswick
Curtal, kur′tal, n. a horse with a curt or docked tail: anything docked or cut short.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D)
Various
Item, double trottynge hors, called a curtal, for his lordship to ryde on out of townes.
Ten Thousand Wonderful Things
Edmund Fillingham King
Curtal is a small horse; properly one who hath his tail docked or curtailed.
A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 3
Various
"I am but a poor anchorite, a curtal friar," replied the other, pushing out for his side of the river.
Robin Hood
Paul Creswick

British Dictionary definitions for curtal

curtal

adjective

cut short
(of friars) wearing a short frock

noun

an animal whose tail has been docked
something that is cut short

Word Origin for curtal

C16: from Old French courtault animal whose tail has been docked, from court short, from Latin curtus; see curt

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