Adjacent Words

Brief definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

BRIEF, a. [L. brevis, when brevio, so shorten abbreviate. Brevis, in Latin, is doubtless contracted from the Gr.,whence to abridge. The Greek word coincides in elements with break.]
Short; concise; it is used chiefly of language, discourses, writings and time; as a brief space, a brief review of a book. Shakespeare applies it to wars, to nature, etc. A little brief authority is authority very limited.
BRIEF, n. [In this sense the word has been received into most of the languages of Europe.]
1. An epitome; a short or concise writing. This is the general sense of the word, as explained by Zonaras on the council
of Carthage. It was thus used as early as the third century after Christ.
In modern times, an apostolical brief is a letter which the pope dispatches to a prince or other magistrate, relating to public affairs. A brief is distinguished from a bull, in being more concise, written on paper, sealed with red wax, and impressed with the seal of the fisherman or Peter in a boat. A bull is more ample, written on parchment, and sealed with lead or green wax.
2. In law, an abridgment of a client's case, made out for the instruction of council on a trial at law.
Also, a writ summoning a man to answer to any action; or any precept of the king in writing, issuing from any court, whereby he commands a thing to be done.
In Scots law, a writ issuing from the chancery, directed to any judge ordinary, commanding and authorizing that judge to call a jury to inquire into the case, and upon their verdict to pronounce sentence.
3. A letter patent, from proper authority, authorizing a public collection or charitable contribution of money for any public or private purpose.
4. A writing in general.
In music, the word, if I mistake not, is now written breve.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: of short duration or distance; "a brief stay in the country"
2: concise and succinct; "covered the matter in a brief statement"
3: (of clothing) very short; "an abbreviated swimsuit"; "a brief bikini" [syn: abbreviated, brief] n
1: a document stating the facts and points of law of a client's case [syn: brief, legal brief]
2: a condensed written summary or abstract v
1: give essential information to someone; "The reporters were briefed about the President's plan to invade"

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Etymology: Middle English bref, breve, from Anglo-French bref, brief, from Latin brevis; akin to Old High German murg short, Greek brachys Date: 14th century 1. short in duration, extent, or length 2. a. concise b. curt, abrupt • briefness noun II. noun Etymology: Middle English bref, from Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin brevis, from Late Latin, summary, from Latin brevis, adjective Date: 14th century 1. a. an official letter or mandate; especially a papal letter less formal than a bull b. a specific instruction or responsibility <his brief was to strengthen the army> 2. a. a concise article b. synopsis, summary c. a concise statement of a client's case made out for the instruction of counsel in a trial at law 3. an outline of an argument; especially a formal outline especially in law that sets forth the main contentions with supporting statements or evidence 4. plural short snug pants or underpants III. transitive verb Date: 15th century 1. to make an abstract or abridgment of 2. a. to give final precise instructions to b. to coach thoroughly in advance c. to give essential information to 3. to discuss (as a military operation) in a briefing <briefed the mission> • briefer noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj., n., & v. --adj. 1 of short duration. 2 concise in expression. 3 abrupt, brusque (was rather brief with me). 4 scanty; lacking in substance (wearing a brief skirt). --n. 1 (in pl.) a women's brief pants. b men's brief underpants. 2 Law a a summary of the facts and legal points of a case drawn up for counsel. b a piece of work for a barrister. 3 instructions given for a task, operation, etc. (orig. a bombing plan given to an aircrew). 4 RC Ch. a letter from the Pope to a person or community on a matter of discipline. --v.tr. 1 Brit. Law instruct (a barrister) by brief. 2 instruct (an employee, a participant, etc.) in preparation for a task; inform or instruct thoroughly in advance (briefed him for the interview) (cf. DEBRIEF). Phrases and idioms: be brief use few words. hold a brief for 1 argue in favour of. 2 be retained as counsel for. in brief in short. watching brief 1 a brief held by a barrister following a case for a client not directly involved. 2 a state of interest maintained in a proceeding not directly or immediately concerning one. Derivatives: briefly adv. briefness n. Etymology: ME f. AF bref, OF brief, f. L brevis short

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Brief Brief, a. [OE. bref, F. brief, bref, fr. L. brevis; akin to Gr. ? short, and perh. to Skr. barh to tear. Cf. Breve.] 1. Short in duration. How brief the life of man. --Shak. 2. Concise; terse; succinct. The brief style is that which expresseth much in little. --B. Jonson. 3. Rife; common; prevalent. [Prov. Eng.] In brief. See under Brief, n. Syn: Short; concise; succinct; summary; compendious; condensed; terse; curt; transitory; short-lived.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Brief Brief, adv. 1. Briefly. [Obs. or Poetic] Adam, faltering long, thus answered brief. --Milton. 2. Soon; quickly. [Obs.] --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Brief Brief (br[=e]f), n. [See Brief, a., and cf. Breve.] 1. A short concise writing or letter; a statement in few words. Bear this sealed brief, With winged hastle, to the lord marshal. --Shak. And she told me In a sweet, verbal brief. --Shak. 2. An epitome. Each woman is a brief of womankind. --Overbury. 3. (Law) An abridgment or concise statement of a client's case, made out for the instruction of counsel in a trial at law. This word is applied also to a statement of the heads or points of a law argument. It was not without some reference to it that I perused many a brief. --Sir J. Stephen. Note: In England, the brief is prepared by the attorney; in the United States, counsel generally make up their own briefs. 4. (Law) A writ; a breve. See Breve, n., 2. 5. (Scots Law) A writ issuing from the chancery, directed to any judge ordinary, commanding and authorizing that judge to call a jury to inquire into the case, and upon their verdict to pronounce sentence. 6. A letter patent, from proper authority, authorizing a collection or charitable contribution of money in churches, for any public or private purpose. [Eng.] Apostolical brief, a letter of the pope written on fine parchment in modern characters, subscribed by the secretary of briefs, dated ``a die Nativitatis,'' i. e., ``from the day of the Nativity,'' and sealed with the ring of the fisherman. It differs from a bull, in its parchment, written character, date, and seal. See Bull. Brief of title, an abstract or abridgment of all the deeds and other papers constituting the chain of title to any real estate. In brief, in a few words; in short; briefly. ``Open the matter in brief.'' --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Brief Brief, v. t. To make an abstract or abridgment of; to shorten; as, to brief pleadings.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(briefer, briefest, briefs, briefing, briefed) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. Something that is brief lasts for only a short time. She once made a brief appearance on television... This time their visit is brief. = fleeting ? lengthy ADJ 2. A brief speech or piece of writing does not contain too many words or details. In a brief statement, he concentrated entirely on international affairs... Write a very brief description of a typical problem. = short ADJ 3. If you are brief, you say what you want to say in as few words as possible. Now please be brief–my time is valuable... = succinct ADJ: v-link ADJ 4. You can describe a period of time as brief if you want to emphasize that it is very short. For a few brief minutes we forgot the anxiety and anguish. ? long ADJ: usu ADJ n [emphasis] 5. Men's or women's underpants can be referred to as briefs. A bra and a pair of briefs lay on the floor. N-PLURAL: also a pair of N 6. If someone briefs you, especially about a piece of work or a serious matter, they give you information that you need before you do it or consider it. A Defense Department spokesman briefed reporters... The Prime Minister has been briefed by her parliamentary aides. = fill in VERB: V n, V n 7. If someone gives you a brief, they officially give you responsibility for dealing with a particular thing. (mainly BRIT FORMAL) ...customs officials with a brief to stop foreign porn coming into Britain. = responsibility N-COUNT: oft N to-inf 8. see also briefer, briefing 9. You can say in brief to indicate that you are about to say something in as few words as possible or to give a summary of what you have just said. In brief, take no risks. PHRASE: PHR with cl

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. 1. Short, concise, succinct, compendious, laconic, curt. 2. Short, transitory, fleeting, transient, temporary, short-lived, ephemeral. II. n. 1. Epitome, compendium, summary, synopsis, syllabus, abstract, breviary, abridgment, conspectus. 2. Pontifical letter, papal rescript. 3. (Law.) Writ, precept.

Moby Thesaurus

Spartan, abbreviated, abbreviation, abbreviature, abrege, abridge, abridged, abridgment, abrupt, abstract, account, account rendered, accounting, acquaint, acta, advertise, advertise of, advise, advocate, airmanship, annual, aposiopestic, apprise, bespeak, block in, block out, blunt, book, breviary, briefing, briefly, bring word, brisk, brusque, bulletin, capsule, capsulize, census report, chalk out, clipped, close, close-tongued, closemouthed, coach, cometary, communicate, compact, compend, compendious, compendium, compressed, concise, concisely, condensation, condense, condensed, condensed version, confer, conspectus, consult with, contracted, counsel, crisp, crusty, curt, curtailed, curtal, curtate, cut, debrief, decurtate, delineate, digest, direct, disclose, docked, draft, dumb, economical of words, election returns, elliptic, employ, engage, enlighten, ephemeral, epigrammatic, epitome, evanescent, explain, extract, familiarize, fill in, flashing, fleet, fleeting, flickering, flight plan, flying lessons, fugitive, give a briefing, give directions, give notice, give the facts, give word, gnomic, gruff, guide, head, hire, in brief, in sum, in summary, indisposed to talk, inform, instantaneous, instruct, kibitz, laconic, leave word, let know, line, little, low, meddle, mention to, meteoric, minutes, momentary, mum, mute, notify, nutshell, outline, overview, pandect, passing, pilot training, pilotship, pithy, pointed, precis, preengage, prescribe, proceedings, propose, pruned, quick, quiet, recommend, recruit, report, reserve, reserved, resume, retain, returns, review, rough, rough in, rough out, rubric, run down, run through, rundown, send word, sententious, serve notice, short, short and sweet, short-lived, short-term, short-termed, shorten, shortened, shortened version, sign on, sign up, sign up for, silent, skeleton, sketch, sketch out, snug, sparing of words, speak, speechless, speedy, statement, submit, succinct, succinctly, suggest, summarize, summary, survey, swift, syllabus, synopsis, synopsize, synopsized, synoptic, taciturn, take into employment, take on, tally, tell, temporary, terse, the record, thumbnail sketch, tight, tight-lipped, to the point, tongue-tied, topical outline, trace, transactions, transient, transitory, truncated, unloquacious, untalkative, verse, washout, word-bound, wordless, yearbook