Cŭr'tate, a.

a. [Lat. curtatus, p. p. of curtare, to shorten, from curtus. See CURT.] (Astron.) Shortened or reduced; — said of the distance of a planet from the sun or earth. It signifies that distance as measured in the plane of the ecliptic, or the distance to that point where a perpendicular, let fall from the planet upon the plane of the ecliptic, meets that plane.