Courtaud

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Describing a person or animal that is short, squat and sturdily built ; a short-barrelled piece of artillery used in early modern warfare
2. Having a short, stocky, heavily built body ; an old type of short cannon fired in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
3. Short and thickset in build, as of a sturdy little animal or man ; a stubby, small-bore cannon from the early gunpowder era

Etymology: Before it named anything, the French adjective "court" meant "short," descending from Latin "curtus." Adding the suffix "-aud" produced "courtaud," used for an animal whose tail had been cut short, such as a dog or horse. The docked animal gave the noun its main sense. The name was then applied to weapons. A "courtaud" also became a short, squat piece of artillery, a cannon with a shorter barrel than its rivals. English borrowed a close relative, "curtal," meaning cut short or docked, and used it for animals and for a short-bladed sword, the "curtal-axe." Here the same root of shortness moved from tails to firearms.