Skip to content
ontologydriven
Sign out

Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

curt en · ADJ

Pronunciation

  • /kɝt/ (General-American)
  • /kɜːt/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From the Latin curtus (“shortened”). Cognate with Dutch kort, German kurz, Galician curto, French court, Italian corto, Portuguese curto, and Spanish corto. Doublet of short.

Meanings

  1. Brief or terse, especially to the point of being rude.
    • Again I begged her to keep an eye on her blood pressure and not get so worked up, and once more she brushed me off, this time with a curt request that I would go and boil my head. [...] Beginning with a curt “Listen, Buster,” she proceeded to sketch out with admirable clearness the salient points in the situation as she envisaged it […] 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “XVIII AND XIX”, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:
  2. Short or concise.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
curtest Degree=Sup lexicographic
curter Degree=Cmp lexicographic

Synonyms

short · brusque

Translations (64)

pt áspero (brief or terse, especially to the point of being rude) · es lacónico (short or concise) · cs odměřený (brief or terse, especially to the point of being rude) · de knapp (brief or terse, especially to the point of being rude) · ru отрывистый (brief or terse, especially to the point of being rude) · de kurzgefasst (short or concise) · de kurzangebunden (brief or terse, especially to the point of being rude) · mk сте́гнат (short or concise) · es cortante (brief or terse, especially to the point of being rude) · es conciso (short or concise) · de schroff (brief or terse, especially to the point of being rude) · pt brusco (brief or terse, especially to the point of being rude) · ru сжатый (short or concise) · pt conciso (short or concise) · ru немногословный (brief or terse, especially to the point of being rude) · hu rövid (short or concise) · es sucinto (short or concise) · bg сбит (short or concise) · de kurz (short or concise) · sv korthuggen (brief or terse, especially to the point of being rude) · mk зби́ен (short or concise) · fr sommaire (brief or terse, especially to the point of being rude) · ga gearrbhéalach (brief or terse, especially to the point of being rude) · pt curto (short or concise) · sv tvär (brief or terse, especially to the point of being rude) · hu tömör (short or concise) · es telegráfico (brief or terse, especially to the point of being rude) · fi töykeä (brief or terse, especially to the point of being rude) · es curto (short or concise) · cs bryskní (short or concise) · bg кратък (short or concise) · pt sucinto (short or concise) · mk ла́конски (short or concise) · es parco (short or concise) · hu kurta (brief or terse, especially to the point of being rude) · ru лаконичный (short or concise) · es parco (brief or terse, especially to the point of being rude) · mk о́стар (brief or terse, especially to the point of being rude) · cs strohý (brief or terse, especially to the point of being rude) · es corto (short or concise) · fi lyhyt (short or concise) · de barsch (brief or terse, especially to the point of being rude) · ca eixut (brief or terse, especially to the point of being rude) · cs strohý (short or concise) · sv brysk (brief or terse, especially to the point of being rude) · cs stručný (short or concise) · es seco (brief or terse, especially to the point of being rude) · fi niukkasanainen (short or concise) · ga gearr-abartha (brief or terse, especially to the point of being rude) · gl curto (short or concise) · ru односложный (brief or terse, especially to the point of being rude) · ca brusc (brief or terse, especially to the point of being rude) · de brüsk (brief or terse, especially to the point of being rude) · es escueto (brief or terse, especially to the point of being rude) · fi tyly (brief or terse, especially to the point of being rude) · fi tiivis (short or concise) · pt seco (brief or terse, especially to the point of being rude) · mk кра́ток (short or concise) · cs úsečný (brief or terse, especially to the point of being rude) · hu rövidített (short or concise) · fr abrupt (brief or terse, especially to the point of being rude) · es escueto (short or concise) · bg лаконичен (brief or terse, especially to the point of being rude) · es brusco (brief or terse, especially to the point of being rude)

curt en · VERB

Pronunciation

  • /kɝt/ (General-American)
  • /kɜːt/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From the Latin curtus (“shortened”). Cognate with Dutch kort, German kurz, Galician curto, French court, Italian corto, Portuguese curto, and Spanish corto. Doublet of short.

Meanings

  1. (obsolete, rare) To cut, cut short, shorten.
    • Curting thy life, hee takes thy Card away. 1608, [Guillaume de Salluste] Du Bartas, translated by Josuah Sylvester, Du Bartas His Deuine Weekes and Workes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Humfrey Lownes [and are to be sold by Arthur Iohnson […]], published 1611, →OCLC:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
curts Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
curted Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
curted Tense=Past lexicographic
curting Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic

Deriveds

curtail · curtly · kirtle · curtness · curt-axe · curtailment

Relateds

short · skirt · shirt