breviter

Forms

breviter (comparative brevius, superlative brevissimē)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from brevis (“short”) with the adverbial suffix -ter.^[2][1] De Vaan traces ⟨brevis⟩ to Proto-Italic *mreχu- and Proto-Indo-European *mr̥ǵʰ-ú- (“short”), enlarged with ⟨-i-⟩ like other u-stem adjectives, cognate with Sanskrit मुहुर् (múhur, “suddenly”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler gives Cicero as its first author,^[4] who has ut brevissimē dīcam, “to put it as briefly as possible”, and “learn the whole matter briefly, judges”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is mostly “in a few words, briefly”, as in Cicero.^[2] It is also “for a short time”, as Publilius Syrus' “avoid an angry man briefly, an enemy long”, “within a short time, quickly”, as in Vitruvius, and of distance “a short way”, as in Germanicus.^[2] In phonetics Cicero uses it of a syllable pronounced short.^[2]

It occurs in the Bible and in scholastic writing.^[4]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of brevity of speech and of short syllables.^[2][4]
• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius of “quickly”.^[2][4]
• early 1st century AD – Germanicus of a short distance.^[2][4]

Meanings

Adverb

1. In a few words, briefly.^[2][1]
2. For a short time; within a short time, quickly.^[2][1]
3. For a short distance.^[2]
4. (phonetics) Short.^[2]

Related words

• brevis
• brevitās
• brevī

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de