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]
Curtate cycloid. (Math.) See Cycloid.