Curtate \Cur"tate\ (k?r"t?t), a. [L. curtatus, p. p. of curtare
   to shorten, fr. curtus. See {Curt}.] (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.
   
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   {Curtate cycloid}. (Math.) See {Cycloid}.
      
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