curtail C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities US /kɚˈteɪl/ UK /kɜːˈteɪl/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 verb to reduce or cut short; to impose a restriction on The drought forced the city to curtail water usage. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 verb · to reduce or cut short; to... reduceshortentruncateabridgerestricttrim ↔ Opposites extendlengthenprolongexpand Word family Forms curtailment Derived forms curtailmentcurtailed Related forms curt Etymology AI details From Middle English curtailen, from curtal ('horse with a docked tail'), from Old French courtault, from Latin curtus ('shortened'); influenced in spelling by 'tail'. curtus Latin *(s)ker- Proto-Indo-European View etymology graph -> Topics Describing Qualities External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # curtail **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** verb **IPA (US):** /kɚˈteɪl/ **IPA (UK):** /kɜːˈteɪl/ ## Meanings 1. to reduce or cut short; to impose a restriction on ## Examples - The drought forced the city to curtail water usage. ## Synonyms - reduce - shorten - truncate - abridge - restrict - trim ## Antonyms - extend - lengthen - prolong - expand ## Derived Forms - curtailment - curtailed ## Related Forms - curt ## Roots and Affixes - Root: curtus - Root: *(s)ker- ## Etymology From Middle English curtailen, from curtal ('horse with a docked tail'), from Old French courtault, from Latin curtus ('shortened'); influenced in spelling by 'tail'. ## AI Etymology Curtail comes from Middle English curtailen, from curtal ('horse with a docked tail'), from Old French courtault, from Latin curtus ('shortened'); influenced in spelling by 'tail'. The etymological trail includes Latin curtus and Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-. As a verb, curtail means to reduce or cut short; to impose a restriction on. The same family is visible in derived forms such as curtailment and curtailed and related forms such as curt. ## Topics - Describing Qualities markdown