Etymologically
Log in

curtus

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 00:31. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈkʊr.tʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkur.tus][1]

Forms

curtus (feminine curta, neuter curtum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *korto-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *kr-to- (“cut off”), with /or/ becoming /ur/.[2][1] De Vaan connects it, as Walde–Hofmann did, with Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut off, shave”), while Ernout–Meillet and Meiser connect it with *kʷer- “to cut”.[2] Cognate with Ancient Greek καρτός (kartós, “cut off, shorn”), Old High German scurz (“short”) and English short.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lucilius uses it of a broken Samian dish.[4][2] Köbler dates Lucilius c. 180–102 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it was something with a part missing, mutilated or broken, as Lucretius' and Juvenal's broken pots, and circumcised.[4][6][1] Figuratively it was incomplete or imperfect, as Cicero's ears that miss the full rhythm of a sentence.[4] Döderlein contrasts it, shortened, with brevis, short by nature.[7]

In medieval Latin it simply meant short, with no idea of a defect.[8] It survives as Italian corto, French court and Romanian scurt, and English curt is borrowed from it.[1][3] The Latin word was also taken early into the Germanic languages, as German kurz.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it of a broken dish.[4][5]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of broken pots.[6][5]
  • mid-14th century – English curt is recorded as “short, concise”.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Mutilated, damaged, broken; shortened.[4][9]
  2. Circumcised.[1][2]
  3. Incomplete, imperfect.[4][1]
  4. (Medieval Latin) Short.[8]

Word family

  • curtiventris

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press