Webster's 1828 Dictionary
CURTATE
a.[L., to shorten. ] The curtate distance, in astronomy, is the distance of a planet from the sun to that point, where a perpendicular let fall from the planet meets with the ecliptic. Or the interval between the sun or earth, and that point where a perpendicular, let fall from the planet, meets the ecliptic.
Webster's 1913 Dictionary
CURTATE
Cur "tate (kr "tt ), a. Etym: [L. curtatus, p.p. of curtare to shorten, fr. curtus. See Curt. ] (Astron.)
Defn: 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. Curtate cycloid. (Math. ) See Cycloid.
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