Word Study
brevity
CIDE DICTIONARY
brevity, n. [L. brevitas, fr. brevis short: cf. F. brièvité. See Brief.].
- Shortness of duration; briefness of time; as, the brevity of human life. [1913 Webster]
- Contraction into few words; conciseness. [1913 Webster]"Brevity is the soul of wit." [1913 Webster]"This argument is stated by St. John with his usual elegant brevity and simplicity." [1913 Webster]
Syn. -- Shortness; conciseness; succinctness; terseness.
OXFORD DICTIONARY
brevity, n.
1 economy of expression; conciseness.
2 shortness (of time etc.) (the brevity of happiness).
1 economy of expression; conciseness.
2 shortness (of time etc.) (the brevity of happiness).
Etymology
AF brevet{eacute}, OF brievet{eacute} f. bref BRIEF
THESAURUS
brevity
brachylogy, briefness, brusqueness, compactness, compendiousness, conciseness, concision, crispness, curtness, dumbness, economy, economy of words, instantaneousness, laconicalness, laconicism, laconism, littleness, lowness, muteness, obmutescence, pauciloquy, pithiness, pointedness, quietness, quietude, reserve, sententiousness, short time, shortness, silence, sparingness of words, speechlessness, succinctness, summariness, swiftness, taciturnity, terseness, transience, unloquaciousness, untalkativeness, wordlessnessROGET THESAURUS
brevity
Conciseness
N conciseness, brevity, the soul of wit, laconism, Tacitus, ellipsis, syncope, abridgment, compression, epitome, monostich, brunch word, portmanteau word, concise, brief, short, terse, close, to the point, exact, neat, compact, compressed, condensed, pointed, laconic, curt, pithy, trenchant, summary, pregnant, compendious, succinct, elliptical, epigrammatic, quaint, crisp, sententious, concisely, briefly, summarily, in brief, in short, in a word, in a few words, for shortness sake, to come to the point, to make a long story short, to cut the matter short, to be brief, it comes to this, the long and the short of it is, brevis esse laboro obscurus fio.Shortness
N shortness, brevity, littleness, a span, shortening, abbreviation, abbreviature, abridgment, concision, retrenchment, curtailment, decurtation, reduction, epitome, elision, ellipsis, conciseness, abridger, epitomist, epitomizer, short, brief, curt, compendious, compact, stubby, scrimp, shorn, stubbed, stumpy, thickset, pug, chunky, decurtate, retrousse, stocky, squab, squabby, squat, dumpy, little, curtailed of its fair proportions, short by, oblate, concise, summary, shortly, in short.For further exploring for "brevity" in Webster Dictionary Online