Definition

Adjective: 1. (Obsolete) Cut short, shortened, or abbreviated. This term was historically used to describe something that has been physically shortened or reduced in length. 2. (Obsolete) Wearing a short coat. This specific usage referred to a friar or other person dressed in a short cloak or coat.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • The old manuscript described a curtal friar, one who wore a short cloak. (Bản thảo cổ mô tả một thầy tu mặc áo choàng ngắn.)
  • (Historical) They kept a curtal hound for hunting in the dense brush. (Họ nuôi một con chó săn đuôi cụt để săn bắn trong bụi rậm.)

Advanced Usage

• The word is almost exclusively found in historical texts, poetry, or discussions of archaic language. Its use in modern English is extremely rare and would be considered a deliberate archaism.
• It can be used figuratively to describe something brief or truncated in a literary context, though this is uncommon.

Variants and Related Words

• Curtail (verb): To reduce or cut short. This is the modern, active verb form related to "curtal."
  • Example: The meeting was curtailed due to the storm.
• Curtal friar (noun phrase): A historical term for a friar of a certain order known for wearing short cloaks.

Synonyms

• Shortened
• Truncated
• Abbreviated
• Curtailed (modern equivalent)

Antonyms

• Lengthened
• Extended
• Elongated
• Full-length

Adjective

1. (obsolete) cut short
   • a dog with a curtal tail