Curtail has 4 different meanings across 1 category:
Verb
A scroll termination, as of a step, etc.
place restrictions on
"curtail drinking in school"
terminate or abbreviate before its intended or proper end or its full extent
"My speech was cut short"
"Personal freedom is curtailed in many countries"
To cut short the tail of an animal
The word curtail comes from the Old French term courtault, meaning "which has been shortened." This phrase was formed by combining court ("short") with a suffix, both of which trace back to the Latin word curtus.