shorten

Meaning

1. (transitive) To make shorter; to abbreviate.
2. (intransitive) To become shorter.
3. (transitive) To make deficient (as to); to deprive (of).
4. (transitive) To make short or friable, as pastry, with butter, lard, etc.
5. (transitive) To reduce or diminish in amount, quantity, or extent; to lessen.
6. (transitive) To make crumbly.
7. (transitive) To take in the slack of (a rope).
8. (transitive) To reduce (sail) by taking it in.
9. (dated, transitive) to dress (a baby) in a short (rather than long) gown

Synonyms

abridge

abbreviate

reduce

curtail

contract

shrink

cut

cut short

diminish

lessen

cut down

decrease

truncate

foreshorten

cut off

shave

compress

condense

draw in

summarize

castrate

retract

make smaller

lower

tuck

economize

retrench

short

amortize

sever

bowdlerize

expurgate

epitomize

roll up

shear

slash

confine

abstract

restrict

pull in

boil down

degrade

prune

pull up

behead

recapitulate

decapitate

cleave

mitigate

cut out

Translations

raccourcir

verkürzen

abréger

acortar

kürzen

accorciare

inkorten

vermindern

abbreviare

abkürzen

écourter

bekorten

abreviar

réduire

verringern

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈʃɔːtən/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: shortnen

Inherited from Middle English: schorten

Inherited from Old English: sċortian

In summary

From Middle English shortnen, schortenen, equivalent to short + -en (verbal suffix). In some senses, a continuation (in altered form) of Middle English schorten (“to make short, shorten”), from Old English sċortian (“to become short”), from Proto-Germanic *skurtōną (“to shorten”).