# brevis
## Latin
### Pronunciation

* (Classical Latin) IPA: /ˈbre.u̯is/, [ˈbreu̯ɪs̠]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /ˈbre.vis/, [ˈbrɛːvis]

### Etymology 1

From Proto-Italic *breɣʷis, from Proto-Indo-European *mréǵʰus. Cognates include Ancient Greek βραχύς (brakhús), English merry, Sanskrit मुहु (muhu).

#### Adjective

brevis (neuter breve, comparative brevior, superlative brevissimus, adverb breviter); third-declension two-termination adjective
* (of distance) short, small, little, narrow
* (of time) brief, short
* (of height or depth) short, low, shallow
* (phonology, of a syllable) short

##### Declension

Third-declension two-termination adjective.

##### Synonyms

* (distance): parvus
* (time): parvus

##### Antonyms

* (antonym(s) of “distance, time”): longus
* (antonym(s) of “height”): altus

##### Derived terms

* amphibrevis
* bibrevis
* brevī
* breviculus
* brevigerulus
* breviloquēns
* breviloquium
* breviloquus
* breviō
* brevitas
* breviter
* brūma
* perbrevis
* subbrevis
* tribrevis

##### Related terms

* breviārium
* breviārius
* breviātiō
* breviātor

##### Descendants

* Gallo-Italic
** Ligurian: brêve
* Italo-Dalmatian
** Italian: breve
*** → Romanian: brevă
* Old French: brief, bref
** Middle French: brief
*** French: bref
** → Middle English: bref, breef, breve, brefe, breefe
*** English: brief, breve
*** Scots: brief, brieve, breef, briefe
* Old Occitan: breu
** Occitan: brèu
* Rhaeto-Romance
** Romansch: brev, breav (Sutsilvan)
* West Iberian
** Old Galician-Portuguese:
*** Galician: breve
*** Portuguese: breve
** Old Spanish:
*** Spanish: breve
* → Dutch: breve
* → German: Breve
* → Proto-West Germanic: *brēf (see there for further descendants)

### Etymology 2

Short for brevis liber.

#### Noun

brevis m (genitive brevis); third declension
* (Late Latin) short catalog, summary
    Synonym: breviārium

##### Declension

Third-declension noun (i-stem).

### Etymology 3

Short for brevis syllaba.

#### Noun

brevis f (genitive brevis); third declension
* dactyl
    Synonym: dactylus

##### Declension

Third-declension noun (i-stem).

### Etymology 4
#### Noun

brevis f (genitive brevis); third declension
* (orthography, printing) breve
* (music) breve (British), whole note (US)
** d. 1369 CE, Simon Tunsted (attributed), Quattuor principalia musicae 256b, (as cited in "brevis", Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources):que quidem notule alique vocantur longe et alique brevesAmong these notes, some are called "longae" and others "breves".

##### Declension

Third-declension noun (i-stem).

##### Descendants

* English: breve
* Italian: breve

### References

* ↑ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “brevis”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 75

### Further reading

* “brevis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* “brevis”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
* brevis in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
* brevis in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
* Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co. for a short time: brevis or exigui temporis