The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

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.
   [1913 Webster]

   Curtate cycloid. (Math.) See Cycloid.
      [1913 Webster]