Brief

• POS: Adjective, Noun, Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

Brief, a. [OE. bref, F. brief, bref, fr. L. brevis; akin to Gr. brachy`s short, and perh. to Skr. barh to tear. Cf. Breve.].

•  Short in duration.  [1913 Webster]

  "How brief the life of man."  [1913 Webster]
•  Concise; terse; succinct.  [1913 Webster]

  "The brief style is that which expresseth much in little."  [1913 Webster]
•  Rife; common; prevalent.  [1913 Webster]

In brief. See under Brief, n.

Syn. -- Short; concise; succinct; summary; compendious; condensed; terse; curt; transitory; short-lived.

Brief, adv. 

•  Briefly.  [1913 Webster]

  "Adam, faltering long, thus answered brief."  [1913 Webster]
•  Soon; quickly.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]

Brief, n. [See Brief, a., and cf. Breve.].

•  A short concise writing or letter; a statement in few words.  [1913 Webster]

  "Bear this sealed brief,
  With winged hastle, to the lord marshal."  [1913 Webster]

  "And she told me
  In a sweet, verbal brief."  [1913 Webster]
•  An epitome.  [1913 Webster]

  "Each woman is a brief of womankind."  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [1913 Webster]

  " In England, the brief is prepared by the attorney; in the United States, counsel generally make up their own briefs."  [1913 Webster]

  "It was not without some reference to it that I perused many a brief."  [1913 Webster]
•  A writ; a breve. See Breve, n., 2.  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [1913 Webster]
•  A letter patent, from proper authority, authorizing a collection or charitable contribution of money in churches, for any public or private purpose.  [1913 Webster]
•  a type of men's underpants without legs, fitting tightly and held by an elastic waistband; also called Jockey shorts.  [PJC]

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.

Brief, v. t. 

 To make an abstract or abridgment of; to shorten; as, to brief pleadings.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Brief, 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).

Idiom

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.

Derivative

briefly adv. briefness n.

Etymology

ME f. AF bref, OF brief, f. L brevis short

THESAURUS

Brief

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

ROGET THESAURUS

Brief

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.

Description

N description, account, statement, report, expose, specification, particulars, state of facts, summary of facts, brief, return, catalogue raisonne, guidebook, delineation, sketch, monograph, minute account, detailed particular account, circumstantial account, graphic account, narration, recital, rehearsal, relation, historiography, chronography, historic Muse, Clio, history, biography, autobiography, necrology, obituary, narrative, history, memoir, memorials, annals, saga, tradition, legend, story, tale, historiette, personal narrative, journal, life, adventures, fortunes, experiences, confessions, anecdote, ana, trait, work of fiction, novel, romance, Minerva press, fairy tale, nursery tale, fable, parable, apologue, dime novel, penny dreadful, shilling shocker relator, raconteur, historian, biographer, fabulist, novelist, descriptive, graphic, narrative, epic, suggestive, well-drawn, historic, traditional, traditionary, legendary, anecdotic, storied, described, furor scribendi.

Compendium

N compend, compendium, abstract, precis, epitome, multum in parvo, analysis, pandect, digest, sum and substance, brief, abridgment, summary, apercu, draft, minute, note, excerpt, synopsis, textbook, conspectus, outlines, syllabus, contents, heads, prospectus, album, scrap book, note book, memorandum book, commonplace book, extracts, excerpta, cuttings, fugitive pieces, fugitive writing, spicilegium, flowers, anthology, collectanea, analecta, compilation, recapitulation, resume, review, abbreviation, abbreviature, contraction, shortening, compression, compendious, synoptic, analectic, abrege, abridged, variorum, in short, in epitome, in substance, in few words, it lies in a nutshell.

Transientness

N transience, transientness, evanescence, impermanence, fugacity, caducity, mortality, span, nine days' wonder, bubble, Mayfly, spurt, flash in the pan, temporary arrangement, interregnum, velocity, suddenness, changeableness, transient, transient boarder, transient guest, transient, transitory, transitive, passing, evanescent, fleeting, cursory, short-lived, ephemeral, flying, fugacious, fugitive, shifting, slippery, spasmodic, instantaneous, momentaneous, temporal, temporary, provisional, provisory, deciduous, perishable, mortal, precarious, unstable, insecure, impermanent, brief, quick, brisk, extemporaneous, summary, pressed for time, sudden, momentary, temporarily, pro tempore, for the moment, for a time, awhile, en passant, in transitu, in a short time, soon, briefly, at short notice, on the point of, on the eve of, in articulo, between cup and lip, one's days are numbered, the time is up, here today and gone tomorrow, non semper erit aestas, eheu! fugaces labuntur anni, sic transit gloria mundi, a schoolboy's tale, the wonder of the hour!, dum loquimur fugerit invidia aetas, fugit hora, all that is transitory is but an illusion.

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.