"brēf" meaning in All languages combined

See brēf on Wiktionary

Noun [Proto-West Germanic]

Etymology: Borrowed from Late Latin brevis (“summary, brief”), ellipsis of Latin brevis liber (literally “short book”). Doublet of *murgī (“short; slow”). Etymology templates: {{root|gmw-pro|ine-pro|*mreǵʰ-}}, {{bor|gmw-pro|la-lat|brevis|t=summary, brief}} Late Latin brevis (“summary, brief”), {{der|gmw-pro|la|brevis liber|lit=short book}} Latin brevis liber (literally “short book”), {{doublet|gmw-pro|*murgī|t1=short; slow}} Doublet of *murgī (“short; slow”) Head templates: {{head|gmw-pro|noun|g=m}} *brēf m Inflection templates: {{gmw-infl-noun-a|g=m}} Forms: no-table-tags [table-tags], brēf [nominative, singular], brēfa [nominative, singular], brēfōs [nominative, plural], brēf [accusative, singular], brēfa [accusative, singular], brēfā [accusative, plural], brēfas [genitive, singular], brēfō [genitive, plural], brēfē [dative, singular], brēfum [dative, plural], brēfu [instrumental, singular], brēfum [instrumental, plural]
  1. letter, document, script Tags: masculine, reconstruction Derived forms: brēfijan, brēvia, brēfōn
    Sense id: en-brēf-gmw-pro-noun-146rTih- Categories (other): Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Proto-West Germanic entries with incorrect language header
{
  "descendants": [
    {
      "descendants": [
        {
          "descendants": [
            {
              "lang": "English",
              "lang_code": "en",
              "word": "brief"
            },
            {
              "lang": "Scots",
              "lang_code": "sco",
              "word": "brief"
            }
          ],
          "lang": "Middle English",
          "lang_code": "enm",
          "word": "breve"
        },
        {
          "descendants": [
            {
              "lang": "English",
              "lang_code": "en",
              "word": "brief"
            },
            {
              "lang": "Scots",
              "lang_code": "sco",
              "word": "brief"
            }
          ],
          "lang": "Middle English",
          "lang_code": "enm",
          "word": "breef"
        },
        {
          "descendants": [
            {
              "lang": "English",
              "lang_code": "en",
              "word": "brief"
            },
            {
              "lang": "Scots",
              "lang_code": "sco",
              "word": "brief"
            }
          ],
          "lang": "Middle English",
          "lang_code": "enm",
          "word": "bref"
        }
      ],
      "lang": "Old English",
      "lang_code": "ang",
      "word": "*brēf"
    },
    {
      "descendants": [
        {
          "lang": "North Frisian",
          "lang_code": "frr",
          "word": "briaf"
        },
        {
          "lang": "North Frisian",
          "lang_code": "frr",
          "tags": [
            "Mooring"
          ],
          "word": "bräif"
        },
        {
          "lang": "North Frisian",
          "lang_code": "frr",
          "tags": [
            "Sylt"
          ],
          "word": "Breev"
        },
        {
          "lang": "West Frisian",
          "lang_code": "fy",
          "word": "brief"
        }
      ],
      "lang": "Old Frisian",
      "lang_code": "ofs",
      "word": "brēf"
    },
    {
      "descendants": [
        {
          "descendants": [
            {
              "descendants": [
                {
                  "lang": "German Low German",
                  "lang_code": "nds-de",
                  "word": "Breew"
                },
                {
                  "lang": "Plautdietsch",
                  "lang_code": "pdt",
                  "word": "Breef"
                }
              ],
              "lang": "German Low German",
              "lang_code": "nds-de",
              "word": "Breev"
            },
            {
              "descendants": [
                {
                  "lang": "German Low German",
                  "lang_code": "nds-de",
                  "word": "Breew"
                },
                {
                  "lang": "Plautdietsch",
                  "lang_code": "pdt",
                  "word": "Breef"
                }
              ],
              "lang": "German Low German",
              "lang_code": "nds-de",
              "word": "Breef"
            },
            {
              "descendants": [
                {
                  "lang": "Danish",
                  "lang_code": "da",
                  "word": "brev"
                },
                {
                  "lang": "Faroese",
                  "lang_code": "fo",
                  "word": "bræv"
                },
                {
                  "descendants": [
                    {
                      "lang": "Northern Sami",
                      "lang_code": "se",
                      "raw_tags": [
                        "borrowed"
                      ],
                      "word": "reive"
                    }
                  ],
                  "lang": "Norwegian",
                  "lang_code": "no"
                },
                {
                  "descendants": [
                    {
                      "lang": "Northern Sami",
                      "lang_code": "se",
                      "raw_tags": [
                        "borrowed"
                      ],
                      "word": "reive"
                    }
                  ],
                  "lang": "Norwegian",
                  "lang_code": "no",
                  "word": "brev"
                },
                {
                  "lang": "Swedish",
                  "lang_code": "sv",
                  "word": "brev"
                }
              ],
              "lang": "Old Norse",
              "lang_code": "non",
              "raw_tags": [
                "borrowed"
              ],
              "word": "bréf"
            }
          ],
          "lang": "Middle Low German",
          "lang_code": "gml",
          "word": "brêf"
        }
      ],
      "lang": "Old Saxon",
      "lang_code": "osx",
      "word": "brēf"
    },
    {
      "descendants": [
        {
          "descendants": [
            {
              "descendants": [
                {
                  "lang": "Afrikaans",
                  "lang_code": "af",
                  "word": "brief"
                },
                {
                  "lang": "Berbice Creole Dutch",
                  "lang_code": "brc",
                  "word": "brifu"
                },
                {
                  "lang": "Negerhollands",
                  "lang_code": "dcr",
                  "word": "brief"
                },
                {
                  "lang": "Negerhollands",
                  "lang_code": "dcr",
                  "word": "brif"
                },
                {
                  "lang": "Papiamentu",
                  "lang_code": "pap",
                  "raw_tags": [
                    "borrowed"
                  ],
                  "tags": [
                    "dated"
                  ],
                  "word": "brifi"
                },
                {
                  "descendants": [
                    {
                      "lang": "Aukan",
                      "lang_code": "djk",
                      "word": "biifi"
                    },
                    {
                      "lang": "Saramaccan",
                      "lang_code": "srm",
                      "word": "biífi"
                    },
                    {
                      "lang": "Kari'na",
                      "lang_code": "car",
                      "raw_tags": [
                        "borrowed"
                      ],
                      "word": "brifi"
                    }
                  ],
                  "lang": "Sranan Tongo",
                  "lang_code": "srn",
                  "raw_tags": [
                    "borrowed"
                  ],
                  "word": "brifi"
                }
              ],
              "lang": "Dutch",
              "lang_code": "nl",
              "word": "brief"
            },
            {
              "lang": "Limburgish",
              "lang_code": "li",
              "word": "breef"
            }
          ],
          "lang": "Middle Dutch",
          "lang_code": "dum",
          "word": "brief"
        }
      ],
      "lang": "Old Dutch",
      "lang_code": "odt",
      "word": "*brēf"
    },
    {
      "descendants": [
        {
          "descendants": [
            {
              "lang": "Bavarian",
              "lang_code": "bar",
              "word": "Briaf"
            },
            {
              "lang": "Cimbrian",
              "lang_code": "cim",
              "word": "briif"
            },
            {
              "lang": "German",
              "lang_code": "de",
              "word": "Brief"
            },
            {
              "lang": "Luxembourgish",
              "lang_code": "lb",
              "word": "Bréif"
            },
            {
              "lang": "Yiddish",
              "lang_code": "yi",
              "roman": "briv",
              "word": "בריוו"
            }
          ],
          "lang": "Middle High German",
          "lang_code": "gmh",
          "word": "brief"
        }
      ],
      "lang": "Old High German",
      "lang_code": "goh",
      "word": "brief"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "gmw-pro",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*mreǵʰ-"
      },
      "expansion": "",
      "name": "root"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "gmw-pro",
        "2": "la-lat",
        "3": "brevis",
        "t": "summary, brief"
      },
      "expansion": "Late Latin brevis (“summary, brief”)",
      "name": "bor"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "gmw-pro",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "brevis liber",
        "lit": "short book"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin brevis liber (literally “short book”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "gmw-pro",
        "2": "*murgī",
        "t1": "short; slow"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of *murgī (“short; slow”)",
      "name": "doublet"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Borrowed from Late Latin brevis (“summary, brief”), ellipsis of Latin brevis liber (literally “short book”). Doublet of *murgī (“short; slow”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "no-table-tags",
      "source": "inflection",
      "tags": [
        "table-tags"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "gmw-infl-noun-a",
      "source": "inflection",
      "tags": [
        "inflection-template"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "a-stem",
      "source": "inflection",
      "tags": [
        "class"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "Masculine a-stem",
      "source": "inflection",
      "tags": [
        "class"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "brēf",
      "source": "inflection",
      "tags": [
        "nominative",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "brēfa",
      "source": "inflection",
      "tags": [
        "nominative",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "brēfōs",
      "source": "inflection",
      "tags": [
        "nominative",
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "brēf",
      "source": "inflection",
      "tags": [
        "accusative",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "brēfa",
      "source": "inflection",
      "tags": [
        "accusative",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "brēfā",
      "source": "inflection",
      "tags": [
        "accusative",
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "brēfas",
      "source": "inflection",
      "tags": [
        "genitive",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "brēfō",
      "source": "inflection",
      "tags": [
        "genitive",
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "brēfē",
      "source": "inflection",
      "tags": [
        "dative",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "brēfum",
      "source": "inflection",
      "tags": [
        "dative",
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "brēfu",
      "source": "inflection",
      "tags": [
        "instrumental",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "brēfum",
      "source": "inflection",
      "tags": [
        "instrumental",
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "gmw-pro",
        "2": "noun",
        "g": "m"
      },
      "expansion": "*brēf m",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "inflection_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "g": "m"
      },
      "name": "gmw-infl-noun-a"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Proto-West Germanic",
  "lang_code": "gmw-pro",
  "original_title": "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/brēf",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Proto-West Germanic entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "brēfijan"
        },
        {
          "word": "brēvia"
        },
        {
          "word": "brēfōn"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "letter, document, script"
      ],
      "id": "en-brēf-gmw-pro-noun-146rTih-",
      "links": [
        [
          "letter",
          "letter"
        ],
        [
          "document",
          "document"
        ],
        [
          "script",
          "script"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "masculine",
        "reconstruction"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "brēf"
}
{
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "brēfijan"
    },
    {
      "word": "brēvia"
    },
    {
      "word": "brēfōn"
    }
  ],
  "descendants": [
    {
      "descendants": [
        {
          "descendants": [
            {
              "lang": "English",
              "lang_code": "en",
              "word": "brief"
            },
            {
              "lang": "Scots",
              "lang_code": "sco",
              "word": "brief"
            }
          ],
          "lang": "Middle English",
          "lang_code": "enm",
          "word": "breve"
        },
        {
          "descendants": [
            {
              "lang": "English",
              "lang_code": "en",
              "word": "brief"
            },
            {
              "lang": "Scots",
              "lang_code": "sco",
              "word": "brief"
            }
          ],
          "lang": "Middle English",
          "lang_code": "enm",
          "word": "breef"
        },
        {
          "descendants": [
            {
              "lang": "English",
              "lang_code": "en",
              "word": "brief"
            },
            {
              "lang": "Scots",
              "lang_code": "sco",
              "word": "brief"
            }
          ],
          "lang": "Middle English",
          "lang_code": "enm",
          "word": "bref"
        }
      ],
      "lang": "Old English",
      "lang_code": "ang",
      "word": "*brēf"
    },
    {
      "descendants": [
        {
          "lang": "North Frisian",
          "lang_code": "frr",
          "word": "briaf"
        },
        {
          "lang": "North Frisian",
          "lang_code": "frr",
          "tags": [
            "Mooring"
          ],
          "word": "bräif"
        },
        {
          "lang": "North Frisian",
          "lang_code": "frr",
          "tags": [
            "Sylt"
          ],
          "word": "Breev"
        },
        {
          "lang": "West Frisian",
          "lang_code": "fy",
          "word": "brief"
        }
      ],
      "lang": "Old Frisian",
      "lang_code": "ofs",
      "word": "brēf"
    },
    {
      "descendants": [
        {
          "descendants": [
            {
              "descendants": [
                {
                  "lang": "German Low German",
                  "lang_code": "nds-de",
                  "word": "Breew"
                },
                {
                  "lang": "Plautdietsch",
                  "lang_code": "pdt",
                  "word": "Breef"
                }
              ],
              "lang": "German Low German",
              "lang_code": "nds-de",
              "word": "Breev"
            },
            {
              "descendants": [
                {
                  "lang": "German Low German",
                  "lang_code": "nds-de",
                  "word": "Breew"
                },
                {
                  "lang": "Plautdietsch",
                  "lang_code": "pdt",
                  "word": "Breef"
                }
              ],
              "lang": "German Low German",
              "lang_code": "nds-de",
              "word": "Breef"
            },
            {
              "descendants": [
                {
                  "lang": "Danish",
                  "lang_code": "da",
                  "word": "brev"
                },
                {
                  "lang": "Faroese",
                  "lang_code": "fo",
                  "word": "bræv"
                },
                {
                  "descendants": [
                    {
                      "lang": "Northern Sami",
                      "lang_code": "se",
                      "raw_tags": [
                        "borrowed"
                      ],
                      "word": "reive"
                    }
                  ],
                  "lang": "Norwegian",
                  "lang_code": "no"
                },
                {
                  "descendants": [
                    {
                      "lang": "Northern Sami",
                      "lang_code": "se",
                      "raw_tags": [
                        "borrowed"
                      ],
                      "word": "reive"
                    }
                  ],
                  "lang": "Norwegian",
                  "lang_code": "no",
                  "word": "brev"
                },
                {
                  "lang": "Swedish",
                  "lang_code": "sv",
                  "word": "brev"
                }
              ],
              "lang": "Old Norse",
              "lang_code": "non",
              "raw_tags": [
                "borrowed"
              ],
              "word": "bréf"
            }
          ],
          "lang": "Middle Low German",
          "lang_code": "gml",
          "word": "brêf"
        }
      ],
      "lang": "Old Saxon",
      "lang_code": "osx",
      "word": "brēf"
    },
    {
      "descendants": [
        {
          "descendants": [
            {
              "descendants": [
                {
                  "lang": "Afrikaans",
                  "lang_code": "af",
                  "word": "brief"
                },
                {
                  "lang": "Berbice Creole Dutch",
                  "lang_code": "brc",
                  "word": "brifu"
                },
                {
                  "lang": "Negerhollands",
                  "lang_code": "dcr",
                  "word": "brief"
                },
                {
                  "lang": "Negerhollands",
                  "lang_code": "dcr",
                  "word": "brif"
                },
                {
                  "lang": "Papiamentu",
                  "lang_code": "pap",
                  "raw_tags": [
                    "borrowed"
                  ],
                  "tags": [
                    "dated"
                  ],
                  "word": "brifi"
                },
                {
                  "descendants": [
                    {
                      "lang": "Aukan",
                      "lang_code": "djk",
                      "word": "biifi"
                    },
                    {
                      "lang": "Saramaccan",
                      "lang_code": "srm",
                      "word": "biífi"
                    },
                    {
                      "lang": "Kari'na",
                      "lang_code": "car",
                      "raw_tags": [
                        "borrowed"
                      ],
                      "word": "brifi"
                    }
                  ],
                  "lang": "Sranan Tongo",
                  "lang_code": "srn",
                  "raw_tags": [
                    "borrowed"
                  ],
                  "word": "brifi"
                }
              ],
              "lang": "Dutch",
              "lang_code": "nl",
              "word": "brief"
            },
            {
              "lang": "Limburgish",
              "lang_code": "li",
              "word": "breef"
            }
          ],
          "lang": "Middle Dutch",
          "lang_code": "dum",
          "word": "brief"
        }
      ],
      "lang": "Old Dutch",
      "lang_code": "odt",
      "word": "*brēf"
    },
    {
      "descendants": [
        {
          "descendants": [
            {
              "lang": "Bavarian",
              "lang_code": "bar",
              "word": "Briaf"
            },
            {
              "lang": "Cimbrian",
              "lang_code": "cim",
              "word": "briif"
            },
            {
              "lang": "German",
              "lang_code": "de",
              "word": "Brief"
            },
            {
              "lang": "Luxembourgish",
              "lang_code": "lb",
              "word": "Bréif"
            },
            {
              "lang": "Yiddish",
              "lang_code": "yi",
              "roman": "briv",
              "word": "בריוו"
            }
          ],
          "lang": "Middle High German",
          "lang_code": "gmh",
          "word": "brief"
        }
      ],
      "lang": "Old High German",
      "lang_code": "goh",
      "word": "brief"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "gmw-pro",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*mreǵʰ-"
      },
      "expansion": "",
      "name": "root"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "gmw-pro",
        "2": "la-lat",
        "3": "brevis",
        "t": "summary, brief"
      },
      "expansion": "Late Latin brevis (“summary, brief”)",
      "name": "bor"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "gmw-pro",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "brevis liber",
        "lit": "short book"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin brevis liber (literally “short book”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "gmw-pro",
        "2": "*murgī",
        "t1": "short; slow"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of *murgī (“short; slow”)",
      "name": "doublet"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Borrowed from Late Latin brevis (“summary, brief”), ellipsis of Latin brevis liber (literally “short book”). Doublet of *murgī (“short; slow”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "no-table-tags",
      "source": "inflection",
      "tags": [
        "table-tags"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "gmw-infl-noun-a",
      "source": "inflection",
      "tags": [
        "inflection-template"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "a-stem",
      "source": "inflection",
      "tags": [
        "class"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "Masculine a-stem",
      "source": "inflection",
      "tags": [
        "class"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "brēf",
      "source": "inflection",
      "tags": [
        "nominative",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "brēfa",
      "source": "inflection",
      "tags": [
        "nominative",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "brēfōs",
      "source": "inflection",
      "tags": [
        "nominative",
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "brēf",
      "source": "inflection",
      "tags": [
        "accusative",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "brēfa",
      "source": "inflection",
      "tags": [
        "accusative",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "brēfā",
      "source": "inflection",
      "tags": [
        "accusative",
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "brēfas",
      "source": "inflection",
      "tags": [
        "genitive",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "brēfō",
      "source": "inflection",
      "tags": [
        "genitive",
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "brēfē",
      "source": "inflection",
      "tags": [
        "dative",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "brēfum",
      "source": "inflection",
      "tags": [
        "dative",
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "brēfu",
      "source": "inflection",
      "tags": [
        "instrumental",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "brēfum",
      "source": "inflection",
      "tags": [
        "instrumental",
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "gmw-pro",
        "2": "noun",
        "g": "m"
      },
      "expansion": "*brēf m",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "inflection_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "g": "m"
      },
      "name": "gmw-infl-noun-a"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Proto-West Germanic",
  "lang_code": "gmw-pro",
  "original_title": "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/brēf",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Proto-West Germanic doublets",
        "Proto-West Germanic entries with incorrect language header",
        "Proto-West Germanic lemmas",
        "Proto-West Germanic masculine a-stem nouns",
        "Proto-West Germanic masculine nouns",
        "Proto-West Germanic nouns",
        "Proto-West Germanic terms borrowed from Late Latin",
        "Proto-West Germanic terms derived from Late Latin",
        "Proto-West Germanic terms derived from Latin",
        "Proto-West Germanic terms derived from Proto-Indo-European",
        "Proto-West Germanic terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *mreǵʰ-",
        "gmw-pro:Communication",
        "gmw-pro:Writing"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "letter, document, script"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "letter",
          "letter"
        ],
        [
          "document",
          "document"
        ],
        [
          "script",
          "script"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "masculine",
        "reconstruction"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "brēf"
}

Download raw JSONL data for brēf meaning in All languages combined (6.8kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-03-25 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-03-03 using wiktextract (05c257f and 9d9a410). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.