curtate Meaning, Definition & Usage

Cur"tate adjective

Etymology

L. curtatus, p.p. of curtare to shorten, fr. curtus. See Curt.

Definitions

1. (Astron.) Shortened or reduced; -- said of the distance of a planet from the sun or earth, as measured in the plane of the ecliptic, or the distance from the sun or earth to that point where a perpendicular, let fall from the planet upon the plane of the ecliptic, meets the ecliptic.