CURTATE, adjective [Latin, 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.
Content
Rights and sources
Review source, license and attribution information for this content.
Content
Webster's Dictionary 1828
American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828.