curtail

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /kɚˈteɪl/ UK /kɜːˈteɪl/ See IPA manual

verb

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... reduce shorten truncate abridge restrict trim

Opposites

extend lengthen prolong expand

Word family

Forms curtailment

Derived forms curtailmentcurtailed

Related forms curt

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'.

curtus Latin *(s)ker- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

# 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

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curtail

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