Word Study
curtate
CIDE DICTIONARY
curtate, a. [L. curtatus, p. p. of curtare to shorten, fr. curtus. See Curt.].
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. [1913 Webster]
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