Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1400-1500
Origin: curtal 'to cut short an animal's tail' (15-17 centuries), from Old French courtault 'animal with a shortened tail'; influenced by tail

curtail

 verb
     
cur‧tail [transitive] formal
to reduce or limit something:
The new law will curtail police powers.
severely/drastically curtail
Budget cuts have drastically curtailed training programs.
—curtailment noun [uncountable and countable]
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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