Direct Cross-Language Association: “Brief” in German
This word also exists in German! Meaning: “letter (written message)”
brief
Direct German Translations & Equivalents:
Click any term below to jump straight to its full vocabulary entry in German:
Verb Conjugation Tables & Inflections
Definitions & Usage
Of short duration; happening quickly.
Concise; taking few words.
Occupying a small distance, area or spatial extent; short.
(obsolete) Rife; common; prevalent.
(law) A writ summoning one to answer; an official letter or mandate.
(law) An answer to any action.
(law) A memorandum of points of fact or of law for use in conducting a case.
(by extension, figurative) A position of interest or advocacy.
(law) An attorney's legal argument in written form for submission to a court.
(English law) The material relevant to a case, delivered by a solicitor to the barrister who is counsel for the case.
(English law, slang) A barrister who is counsel for a party in a legal action.
A short news story or report.
(usually in the plural) Underwear briefs.
(usually in the plural) Swimming briefs.
(obsolete) A summary, précis or epitome; an abridgement or abstract.
(UK, historical) A letter patent, from proper authority, authorizing a collection or charitable contribution of money in churches, for any public or private purpose.
(slang) A ticket of any type.
(transitive) To summarize a recent development to some person with decision-making power.
(transitive, law) To write a legal argument and submit it to a court.
(obsolete, poetic) Briefly.
(obsolete, poetic) Soon; quickly.
Notable Literary & Historical Quotes
“Some, how briefe the Life of man / runs his erring pilgrimage, / That the ſtretching of a ſpan, / buckles in his ſumme of age.”
— c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
“It was a joy to snatch some brief respite, and find himself in the rectory drawing–room. Listening here was as pleasant as talking; just to watch was pleasant. The young priests who lived here wore cassocks and birettas; their faces were fine and mild, yet really strong, like the rector's face; and in their intercourse with him and his wife they seemed to be brothers.”
— 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter X, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
“That brief moment after the election four years ago, when many Americans thought Mr. Obama’s election would presage a new, less fractious political era, now seems very much a thing of the past.”
— 2012 November 7, Matt Bai, “Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 03 Jun 2020: