# shorten

> English word · Verb · IPA /ˈʃɔːtn̩/ · frequency rank #17,718

## Definitions
1. To make shorter; to abbreviate.
2. To become shorter.
3. To make deficient (as to); to deprive (of).
4. To make short or friable, as pastry, with butter, lard, etc.
5. To reduce or diminish in amount, quantity, or extent; to lessen.
6. To make crumbly.
7. To take in the slack of (a rope).
8. To reduce (sail) by taking it in.
9. to dress (a baby) in a short (rather than long) gown

## Etymology
From Middle English shortnen, schortenen, equivalent to short + -en (verbal suffix). In some senses, a continuation (in altered form) of Middle English schorten (“to make short, shorten”), from Old English sċortian (“to become short”), from Proto-Germanic *skurtōną (“to shorten”).

## Easily confused with
- **shorts** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shorten-vs-shorts)
- **sorted** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shorten-vs-sorted)
- **soften** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shorten-vs-soften)
- **shorty** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shorten-vs-shorty)
- **shortly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shorten-vs-shortly)
- **shorter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shorten-vs-shorter)
- **shouted** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shorten-vs-shouted)
- **shortest** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shorten-vs-shortest)
- **shorting** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shorten-vs-shorting)
- **shortened** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shorten-vs-shortened)
- **short** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/short-vs-shorten)
- **shore** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shore-vs-shorten)
- **shores** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shores-vs-shorten)
- **shooter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shooter-vs-shorten)
- **sharpen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sharpen-vs-shorten)
- **shorted** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shorted-vs-shorten)

## Common misspellings (11)
`hsorten`, `shhorten`, `shoretn`, `shorrten`, `shortenn`, `shortne`, `shortten`, `shotren`, `shroten`, `sohrten`, `sshorten`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/shorten