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Glite Dictionary
curtal

curtal

9.9
Having a tail cut short, like on some dogs
  • adjective
  • /ˈkərtəl/
  • Archaic
translation icon : cortado
  • The artist's curtal sculpture featured a truncated figure that drew the viewer's attention.

Examples

  • The curtal dog had a short tail, making him look quite unique.

  • Although it was a curtal horse, its compact stature did not hinder its speed.

  • A curtal friar, and a mighty fat one at that.

    The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

  • I'm a curtal friar and vowed to poverty.

    The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

  • "He ought also to have added that, however extravagant each foot may be, there are equal numbers of feet in each line of a Hopkins poem, or in corresponding lines of their stanzas, except at the end of his 'curtal' sonnets—those in which he cut the sonnet form short."

    Fiction book (2000)

Synonyms

bobtailed
vscurtal
1 8.1

An animal with a short or cut tail

is an archaic word used instead of the modern expression

Antonyms

extended
4 3.5

Stretched out to a longer length in space

How Short

curtal
  • Archaic
9.9
shortened
2.5
full-length
28 3.4

Surface Forms

curtal positive

Morphology

curtal = curt (semi-transparent) = curt + al

Formed from 'curt' + '-al', the relation 'short' → 'having been shortened' is clear, but the archaic/specialized sense referring especially to a docked tail is not fully predictable for learners.

Etymology

Curtal comes from the same root as curtail and curt, words that mean 'short' or 'to make short'. It was used for animals with a tail that was 'cut short', so calling a tail curtal meant it was docked.