Word of the Day

: November 9, 2021

truncate

verb TRUNG-kayt

What It Means

Truncate means "to shorten by or as if by cutting off."

// Many statements in the court document were truncated before publication.

See the entry >

truncate in Context

"[Derrick White] has never logged more than the 68 games he registered in 2019-20, an NBA season interrupted and truncated by the onset of the pandemic." — Jeff McDonald, The San Antonio (Texas) Express-News, 30 Sept. 2021

Did You Know?

The earliest use of truncate is as an adjective describing something (such as a leaf or feather) with the end squared off as if it had been cut. It makes sense, then, that the verb refers to shortening things. The word comes from Latin truncare ("to shorten"), which traces to truncus ("trunk").