curtal

[ kur-tl ]

/ ˈkɜr tl /

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adjective

Archaic. wearing a short frock: a curtal friar.

Obsolete. brief; curtailed.

noun

a 16th-century bassoon.

Obsolete. an animal with a docked tail.

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Origin of curtal

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

Words nearby curtal

curtain shutter, curtain speech, curtain time, curtain-twitcher, curtain wall, curtal, curtalax, curtal axe, curtana, curtate, curtilage

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use curtal in a sentence

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
A gret doble trottynge hors called a curtal, for his lordship to ride out on out of towns.
Horses Past and Present|Walter Gilbey
Some blackguard or other, I think it was Sybrandt, said, "A lie is not like a blow with a curtal axe."
The Cloister and the Hearth|Charles Reade

Item, double trottynge hors, called a curtal, for his lordship to ryde on out of townes.
Ten Thousand Wonderful Things|Edmund Fillingham King

British Dictionary definitions for curtal

curtal

/ (ˈkɜːtəl) obsolete /

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