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Added 9 October 2026

curtail

/kɜːˈteɪl/ verb

Latin root: curtus Wiktionary

verb Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about curtail at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

To cut short the tail of (an animal).
Curtailing horses procured long horse-hair.
To shorten or abridge the duration of; to bring an end to; to truncate.
When the audience grew restless, the speaker curtailed her speech.
To limit or restrict; to keep in check.

noun

A scroll termination, as of a step, etc.

Origin

Alteration of curtal, from Old French courtault (“which has been shortened”), itself from court (“short”) (from Latin curtus) + -ault

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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