brief

See also: Brief

English

Etymology

From Middle English breef, breve, bref, from Old French brief, bref, from Latin brevis (“short”). Compare French bref.

Pronunciation
  • enPR: brēf, IPA(key): /bɹiːf/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -iːf

Adjective

brief (comparative briefer, superlative briefest)

  1. Of short duration; happening quickly. [from 15th c.]
    Her reign was brief but spectacular.
    • c. 1598–1600, William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals):
      , [Act III, scene ii]:
      Some, how briefe the Life of man / runs his erring pilgrimage, / That the ſtretching of a ſpan, / buckles in his ſumme of age.
    • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 10, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
      It was a joy to snatch some brief respite, and find himself in the rectory drawing–room. Listening here was as pleasant as talking; just to watch was pleasant. The young priests who lived here wore cassocks and birettas; their faces were fine and mild, yet really strong, like the rector's face; and in their intercourse with him and his wife they seemed to be brothers.
    • 2012 November 7, Matt Bai, “Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds”, in New York Times‎:
      That brief moment after the election four years ago, when many Americans thought Mr. Obama’s election would presage a new, less fractious political era, now seems very much a thing of the past.
  2. Concise; taking few words. [from 15th c.]
    His speech of acceptance was brief but moving.
    • a. 1637, Ben Jonson, “Discoveries”, in The Works of Ben Jonson, volume 2, London: Richard Bishop, published 1641:
      The briefe ſtyle is that which expreſſeth much in little.
    • 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest‎:
      She was like a Beardsley Salome, he had said. And indeed she had the narrow eyes and the high cheekbone of that creature, and as nearly the sinuosity as is compatible with human symmetry. His wooing had been brief but incisive.
  3. Occupying a small distance, area or spatial extent; short. [from 17th c.]
    Her skirt was extremely brief but doubtless cool.
    • 1983, Robert Drewe, The Bodysurfers, Penguin 2009, p. 17:
      On the beach he always wore a straw hat with a red band and a brief pair of leopard print trunks.
  4. (obsolete) Rife; common; prevalent.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations
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Translations to be checked

Noun

brief (plural briefs)

  1. (law) A writ summoning one to answer to any action.
  2. (law) An answer to any action.
    • 1996, Japanese Rules of Civil Procedure, Article 79, Section 1:
      A written answer or any other brief shall be submitted to the court while allowing a period necessary for the opponent to make preparations with regard to the matters stated therein.
  3. (law) A memorandum of points of fact or of law for use in conducting a case.
  4. (by extension, figuratively) A position of interest or advocacy.
    • 1894 August 18, “The First Divorce of Henry VIII [book review]”, in The Speaker, volume 10, page 192:
      Mrs. Hope was, we believe, a convert to the Roman Catholic Church, and neither she nor her editor conceals the fact that they hold a brief for the Pope and for Catharine against Henry VIII.
  5. (law) An attorney's legal argument in written form for submission to a court.
  6. (English law) The material relevant to a case, delivered by a solicitor to the barrister who tries the case.
  7. A short news story or report.
  8. (usually in the plural) undershorts briefs.
    I wear boxers under trousers but for sports I usually wear a brief.
  9. (obsolete) A summary, précis or epitome; an abridgement or abstract.
    • 1589, Thomas Nashe, The Anatomie of Absurditie:
      […] euen ſo it fareth with mee, who béeing about to anatomize Abſurditie, am vrged to take a view of ſundry mens vanitie, a ſuruey of their follie, a briefe of their barbariſme […]
    • a. 1613, Sir Thomas Overbury, “A Wife”, in The Miscellaneous Works in Verse and Prose of Sir Thomas Overbury, Knt. with Memoir of his Life, tenth edition, London: W. Owen, published 1756, page 23:
      EACH woman is a brief of womankind, / And doth in little e’en as much contain, / As in one day and night all life we find ; / Of either more is but the ſame again […]
  10. (Britain, historical) A letter patent, from proper authority, authorizing a collection or charitable contribution of money in churches, for any public or private purpose.
  11. (slang) A ticket of any type.[1]

Derived terms

Translations
a short news story or report

References

Verb

brief (third-person singular simple present briefs, present participle briefing, simple past and past participle briefed)

  1. (transitive) To summarize a recent development to some person with decision-making power.
    The U.S. president was briefed on the military coup and its implications on African stability.
  2. (transitive, law) To write a legal argument and submit it to a court.

Translations

Adverb

brief (comparative more brief, superlative most brief)

  1. (obsolete, poetic) Briefly.
  2. (obsolete, poetic) Soon; quickly.

Derived terms

Further reading
  • brief in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
  • brief in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
  • brief at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch brief.

Noun

brief (plural briewe)

  1. letter (written message)

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch brief, borrowed from Latin brevis (“short”).[2]

Pronunciation
  • Rhymes: -if
  • audio(file)
  • IPA(key): /briːf/

Noun

brief m (plural brieven, diminutive briefje n)

  1. letter (written message)

Derived terms

References
  1. The Routledge Dictionary of Historical Slang
  2. brief; in: J. de Vries & F. de Tollenaere, "Etymologisch Woordenboek", Uitgeverij Het Spectrum, Utrecht, 1986 (14de druk)

Middle French

Adjective

brief m (feminine singular briefve, masculine plural briefs, feminine plural briefves)

  1. brief; short

Old French

Alternative forms

Etymology

Latin brevis, see English brief above.

Adjective

brief m (oblique and nominative feminine singular brieve)

  1. brief; short in length

Declension
Declension of brief
Number Case Masculine Feminine Neuter
Singular Subject briés brieve brief
Oblique brief brieve brief
Plural Subject brief brieve brief
Oblique briés brieves brief

Derived terms

Noun

brief m (oblique plural briés, nominative singular briés, nominative plural brief)

  1. (short) letter or statement

Descendants
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