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Aug 12, 2021
This week’s theme
Words that look one part of speech but are other

This week’s words
constitutional
commensurate
dialectic
curtal
niddering
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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

curtal

PRONUNCIATION:
(KUHR-tuhl)

MEANING:
noun:1. A woodwind instrument, an early form of bassoon, also known as a dulcian.
 2. An animal with a tail docked off.
 3. Anything abridged or cut short.
adj.:1. Having a docked tail.
 2. Abridged or cut short.

ETYMOLOGY:
From French court (short), from Latin curtus (shortened). Earliest documented use: 1509.

USAGE:
“‘May I assume you hold some musical or artistic talent, Miss Adeline?’
‘Certainly,’ Adeline said with a nod. ‘I am quite skilled on the curtal.’”
Amanda Mariel & Christina McKnight; Georgina; Brook Ridge Press; 2017.

“I and my curtal and my two lackeys all ventured through the eye of a Spanish needle.”
Ben Jonson; Chloridia: Rites to Chloris and Her Nymphs; 1631.

See more usage examples of curtal in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
People share a common nature but are trained in gender roles. -Lillie Devereux Blake, novelist, essayist, and reformer (12 Aug 1833-1913)

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