"shortened" is correct and usable in written English.
You can use it to express that something has become shorter in duration or length, or has been made more concise. For example: "The play has been shortened from three hours to two and a half."
The growth that lies behind, the young laterals, should then be shortened to five to six buds.
The codebreaking work at Bletchley is estimated to have shortened the second world war by two years and saved thousands of lives.
The main mover further down the ante-post list for the Derby was Giovanni Canaletto, who shortened throughout the day before confirmation arrived that he will be Ryan Moore's chosen mount from three possible rides for the Aidan O'Brien stable.
While serving as commanding general of Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and the US combined arms training center there, Petraeus masterminded an update the army's field manual on counterinsurgency strategy – usually shortened to COIN.
But it has been shortened to boho, which just refers to a peasant dress or a girl in beads.
The Law Council and civil libertarians also told the Senate inquiry into the laws that the proposed the six-month waiting period for notification should be shortened.
The name was shortened to Cleveland to fit on the masthead of the long since defunct Cleveland Advertiser newspaper.
In the days since the general election, David Cameron has set his sights firmly on Europe and shortened the potential timeframe of his planned referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union.
Related: Duchess of Cambridge gives birth to baby girl Charlotte, the feminised form of Charles – which will undoubtedly be shortened by headline writers to Lottie or Charlie – is clearly a tribute to the baby's grandfather, the Prince of Wales.
It wants the current deadlines to be shortened dramatically.
The overall time they could stay in office was shortened from 14 years to 12.
