From Latin 'brevitas' (shortness), from 'brevis' (short) — thesameroot behind 'brief,' 'abbreviate,' and 'abridge.'
Definition
Concise and exact use of words in writing or speech; shortness of time.
The Full Story
Latin1500swell-attested
From Latin "brevitās" (shortness, brevity), from "brevis" (short), from PIE *mréǵʰu- (short, brief). The PIE root underwent a characteristic Latin soundchange where initial *mr- simplified. "Brevis" produced an enormousEnglish word family: "brief," "abbreviate," "abridge" (through Old French "abregier"), and the musical term "breve."
Did you know?
Shakespeare's 'brevity is thesoul of wit' is the word's most famous context.
the word in English literary consciousness. The semantic field spans spatial shortness, temporal briefness, and rhetorical conciseness — a typical Indo-European polysemy. Key roots: brev (Latin: "From Latin 'brevitās' meaning 'shortness").