Where does “curtail” come from?
Curtail comes from French courtault, a diminutive of court, which derives from Latin curtus meaning "shortened," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European (s)ker- meaning "to cut."
curtail (English): To cut short the tail of an animal; To shorten or...
Definitions
- To cut short the tail of an animal; To shorten or...
Ancestry of “curtail”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | curtal | A variety of short-barrelled cannon; An early... |
| 2 | French | courtault | — |
| 3 | French | court | short; third-person singular present indicative... |
| 4 | English | court | An enclosed space; a courtyard; an uncovered area... |
| 5 | Middle English | court | A courtyard; an enclosed space |
| 6 | Old French | cort | court |
| 7 | Latin | cōrs | — |
| 8 | Latin | cohors | a court; a farmyard or enclosure; a retinue or... |
| 9 | Latin | co- | allomorph of con- |
| 10 | Latin | cōn- | Used in compounds to indicate a being or bringing together of several objects |
| 11 | Latin | cum | with, along with; at; -fold |
| 12 | Old Latin | com | Alternative form of cum |
| 13 | Proto-Italic | kom | with, along, at |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 15 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 16 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 17 | German | kitt | putty certain kinds of cement used for fixing e.g. window panes |
| 18 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 19 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 20 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |