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curtal

[kur-tl]

adjective

  1. Archaic.wearing a short frock.

    a curtal friar.

  2. Obsolete.brief; curtailed.



noun

  1. a 16th-century bassoon.

  2. Obsolete.an animal with a docked tail.

curtal

/ ˈɜːə /

adjective

  1. cut short

  2. (of friars) wearing a short frock

“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

noun

  1. an animal whose tail has been docked

  2. something that is cut short

“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
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Word History and Origins

Origin of curtal1

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

Origin of curtal1

C16: from Old French courtault animal whose tail has been docked, from court short, from Latin curtus; see curt
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Here is a thong indeed, by the mass, though ich speak it; Tom Tankard's great bald curtal, I think, could not break it!

From

Now I may go in and out as I will, being a curtal friar and not now remembered in these parts.

From

One of the best arrows under his belt To the friar he let fly: The curtal friar with his steel buckler Did put that arrow by.

From

I with ‘gallant curtal axe,’ dressed as a youth.

From

Hope is a curtal dog in some affairs: II.

From

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