This week’s theme
Words that look one part of speech but are other

This week’s words
constitutional
commensurate
dialectic
curtal
niddering

---

A.Word.A.Day

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: