▪ I. † curtal, n. and a. Obs. exc. Hist. (or arch.).
(ˈkɜːtəl)
Forms: see the senses.
[In 16th c. also courtault, curtald, a. 15th c. F. courtault, -auld, now courtaud:—OF. cortald, curtald; cf. It. cortalda short bombard, pot gun, cortaldo petriero a short perrier; a derivative of Romanic corto, F. court, ‘short’, with suffix -aldo, -ald, -alt, -aud, of Teutonic origin: cf. Diez Gram. III. i. i. 3. French has the various senses ‘short or dumpy man’, ‘docked horse or dog’, ‘short piece of artillery’, ‘short bassoon’, which have been at various times, and more or less independently, taken into English.]
A. as n. I. 6 courtault, -tall, -tal, 6–7 cortall, curtall, (6 curtell, -tole, -tayle, 6–7 -toll, -taile, 6–8 -tail), 6– curtal.
1. A horse with its tail cut short or docked (and sometimes the ears cropped); app. sometimes a horse of a particular breed or small size, with which this practice was usual. Cf. cocktail n.
| 1530 Palsgr. 68 Covrtavlt, a courtall, a horse. Ibid. 506/1, I wyll cutte of my horse tayle and make hym a courtault. 1564–78 W. Bullein Dial. agst. Pest. (1888) 80 You can make a stoned horse a geldyng, and a longe taile a courtall. 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. III. 1056/2 Mounted on a cur⁓taile. 1610 Markham Masterp. (1636) 539 Of the making of Curtals, or cutting off of the tailes of Horses. 1611 Cotgr., Double courtaut, a strong curtall; or, a horse of a middle size betweene th' ordinarie curtall, and horse of seruice. 1620 E. Blount Horæ Subs. 36 They..thence vpon their Curtoe..goe to the Tauerne. 1653 H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. xxxix. 156 Six pages apparelled in his livery mounted on white Curtals. |
2. transf. and fig. a. Any animal that has lost its tail. b. Anything docked, or cut short.
| 1607 Topsell Serpents (1608) 696 Certain [serpents]..whose bodies of an equal..thicknesse, so as they appear without tails; being for that purpose called ‘Decurtati’, Curtails. 1669 Address Yng. Gentry Eng. 80 There remains nothing of it but the shade of a great name, the empty curtail of its faint eccho. 1866 Lowell Biglow P. Introd., Consider what a poor curtal we have made of Ocean. There was something of his heave and expanse in o-ce-an. |
3. Applied to persons: a. with fig. reference to sense 1: One whose ears are cropped.
| 1592 Greene Upst. Courtier in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) II. 235, I am made a curtall, for the pillory..hath eaten off both my eares. |
b. Cant. A rogue who wears a short cloak.
(In quot. 1725 differently explained.)
| 1561 J. Awdelay Frat. Vacab. 4 A Curtall is much like to the Upright man..He useth commonly to go with a short cloke, like to grey Friers. 1567 Harman Caveat 37 There bee of these Roges Curtales, wearinge shorte clokes. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Curtals, the Eleventh Rank of the Canting Crew. 1725 New Cant. Dict., Curtails..so called from their Practice to cut off Pieces of Silk, Cloth, Linen or Stuff, that were hung out at the Shop-Windows of Mercers, etc... Also a Species of Cut-purses. |
c. A term of derision or opprobrium. [Direct connexion with F. courtaud ‘short or dumpy person’ is doubtful.]
| 1578 Whetstone Promos & Cass. i. iv. (N.), Were you born in a myll, curtole, that you prate so hye. 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 201 b, That this creeppled curtoll of Osorius may stand upright upon his legges. c 1612 Beaum. & Fl. Thierry i. i, Your old and honor'd Mistress, you tyr'd curtals, Suffers for your base sins. |
d. A drab. [Perhaps referring to short skirts.]
| 1611 Cotgr., Caignardiere, a hedge-whore, lazie queane, lowsie trull, filthie curtall, Doxie, Morte. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Curtail, a Drab, or nasty Slut. |
II. 6 courtault, curtald, cortoute, 6–7 curtall, 7 cortal; pl. 6–7 curtaux, -tawes, -towes.
4. a. A kind of cannon with a comparatively short barrel, in use in the 16th and 17th c. The demi-curtal or half curtal, and double curtall were smaller and larger varieties.
| a 1509 Ramsay Let. to Hen. VII in Pinkerton Hist. Scot. II. 440 (Jam.), ij great curtaldis that war send out of France. 1530 Palsgr. 448/1 They bended agaynst the castell ten courtaultes and fyftene serpentynes. 1548 Hall Chron. (1809) 671 Bombards Curtawes and demy Curtaux. Ibid. 680 One pece of ordinaunce called a Curtall. Ibid. 693 Double Curtalls. 1629 Shertogenbosh 36 The Enemies did shoot aboue 110 shot with halfe Curtowes. 1664 Flodden F. ii. 18 Culverings and Cortals great, And double Canons two or three. |
b. curtal-sonnet (see quot.).
| a 1889 G. M. Hopkins Poems (1918) Pref. 6, Nos. 13 and 22 are Curtal-Sonnets, that is they are constructed in proportions resembling those of the sonnet proper, namely 6 + 4 instead of 8 + 6, with however a halfline tailpiece (so that the equation is rather 12/2 + 9/2 = 21/2 = 10½. |
III. 6 curtoll, 7–8 courtel, 8 curtail, -till, curtal, (8–9 courtaud, -aut).
5. An obsolete musical instrument, a kind of bassoon; also an organ-stop of similar quality of tone; also double curtal.
| 1582 Batman Upon Barthol. 423/1 marg., The common bleting musicke is y⊇ Drone, Hobius, and Curtoll. 168.. Let. in Hawkins Hist. Mus. (1776) V. 355 Then Mr. Harris challenged Father Smith to make additional stops..these were the Vox-humane, the Cremona or Violin stop, the double Courtel or base Flute. 1706 E. Ward Hud. Rediv. (1707) II. v. 24 With Voice as hoarse as double Curtal. 1776 Hawkins Hist. Mus. IV. ix. 139 An instrument, called, by reason of its shortness, the Courtaut. 1888 Stainer & Barrett Mus. Terms, Courtaut, Cortaud, Corthal, an ancient instrument of the bassoon kind. |
B. attrib. or adj. Also 6–7 curtall, -toll.
1. Of horses: Having the tail docked; made a curtal.
| 1576 Inv. in Ripon Ch. Acts 377 A curtall nagge. 1578 in W. H. Turner Select Rec. Oxford 396 One grey trotting curtoll mare. 1632 Thomas of Reading in Thoms Prose Rom. (1858) I. 146 If he ware a long taile, he would make him curtall. c 1640 J. Smyth Lives Berkeleys (1883) I. 208 A Dun Curtall horse with a white head and black mane. |
2. Of dogs: Having the tail cut short or cut off.
| 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. iii. ii. 151, I thinke..she had transform'd me to a Curtull dog, and made me turne i'th wheele. 1599 Pass. Pilgr. 273 My curtail dog, that wont to have play'd, Plays not at all, but seems afraid. a 1663 R. Hood & Curtal Fryer xxxiv. in Child Ballads (1888) III. v. 125/2 The curtal dogs, so taught they were, They kept their arrows in their mouth. |
3. Shortened, short in linear dimension.
| 1590 Greene Orl. Fur. (1599) 45 What has thou mard my sword? The pummel's well, the blade is curtall short. 1605 Camden Rem. (1657) 195 A new round curtall weed which they called a cloak. 1630 J. Taylor (Water-P.) Vertue of a Tayle Wks. ii. 128/2 He notes the curtall cannes halfe fild with froth. |
4. Abridged, curtailed; brief, scant, curt.
| 1579 Fulke Refut. Rastel 750 There needeth none other creed..but onely this short curtall creed. 1579 Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 623/1 Wee muste not take this so short and curtall a passage for a life. 1649 Milton Eikon. Wks. 1738 I. 410 Matters of this moment..not to be..determin'd here by Essays and curtal Aphorisms. a 1661 B. Holyday Juvenal 255 A thankless countrey's curtal love. |
5. Of the nature of a curtal or drab: see A. 3 d.
| 1595 Gosson Quippes Upst. Gentlewom. 278 Next, curtaile flurt, as ranke as beast. |
6. curtal friar: app. a friar with a short frock; cf. A. 3 b, quot. 1561, B. 3, quot. 1605.
Applied in ballads to the friar (Tuck) who plays a part in some Robin Hood stories, called also ‘cutted friar’. Hence, as a vague archaism, in Scott. [The conjecture that curtal here means curtilanus, as ‘having the care and keeping of the curtile or vegetable garden’, is inadmissible.]
| c 1610 Ballad (Pepysian Libr. I. No. 37), The famous Battelle betweene Robin Hood and the Curtall Fryer. a 1663 R. Hood & Curtal Fryer vi. in Child Ballads (1888) III. v. 124/1 There lives a curtal frier in Fountains Abby Will beat both him and thee. Ibid. xiii. ibid. 124/2 Carry me over the water, thou curtal frier. 1820 Scott Ivanhoe xxxii, Now, sirs, who hath seen our chaplain? where is our curtal Friar? Ibid., Curtal Priest..thou hast been at wet mass this morning. 1888 F. J. Child Ballads III. v. No. 117 A curtal, or cutted friar, called Friar Tuck. |
▪ II. curtal, -all
obs. forms of curtail v.