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écourter

to shorten, to cut short

verb eh-koor-TEH Rare

Usage Note

Ecourter (also written écourter) means to make something shorter in duration or length: a meeting, a visit, a speech, or a piece of text. It is not used for physical cutting of objects (use raccourcir or couper for that). The prefix é- here intensifies court (short), producing a verb focused on temporal or spatial reduction.

Examples

"Il a écourté son séjour à cause de la maladie."

Natural Translation

He cut short his stay because of illness.

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