Truncate means to shorten something by cutting off the top or end, either literally or figuratively.
Truncate means to shorten something by cutting off the top or end, either literally or figuratively.
| Word | truncate |
|---|---|
| Date | October 8, 2016 |
| Type | verb |
| Syllables | TRUNG-kayt |
| Etymology | Truncate descends from the Latin verb truncare, meaning "to shorten," which in turn can be traced back to the Latin word for the trunk of a tree, which is truncus. Incidentally, if you've guessed that truncus is also the ancestor of the English word trunk, you are correct. Truncus also gave us truncheon, which is the name for a police officer's billy club, and the obscure word obtruncate, meaning "to cut the head or top from." |
| Examples | "Apparently, a federal law … requires printed credit card receipts truncate not only the credit card number, but also the expiration date." — Jack Greiner, The Cincinnati Enquirer, 28 Aug. 2016 "Google's own URL shortener service … instantly truncates the URL you're visiting and copies the new address to the clipboard for use anywhere." — Eric Griffith, PCMag.com, 23 Aug. 2016 |
| Definition | : to shorten by or as if by cutting off |
Tags: wordoftheday::verb
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