Shortened

Shortened is the past participle of the verb shorten and an adjective describing something made shorter. It is used to indicate reduction in length, duration, or content, and it appears in both literal and figurative contexts. As a participle, it forms phrases such as a shortened version, a shortened deadline, or a shortened route, where the emphasis is on a result that has been condensed or cut down.

In editing, publishing, and communication, a shortened version of a document is a condensed form that retains core information while omitting nonessential material. In logistics and travel planning, routes or schedules may be described as shortened when improvements reduce travel time or distance. In technology, shortened can describe links or identifiers that have been abbreviated, such as shortened URLs used for sharing on social media.

Linguistically, shortened can describe a process that reduces length—such as a shortened form of a word or a shortened pronunciation in certain dialect contexts—though the specific phonetic or orthographic description may term such phenomena as reductions, elisions, or contractions rather than simply "shortened."

Etymology: The verb shorten derives from Old English and is formed with the base "short" plus a standard verb suffix, with "shortened" as the past participle. The adjective "short" itself traces to older Germanic roots for small in length.

See also shorten, shortening, abbreviation, truncation, URL shortening, shortened form.