breve

Forms

breve m or f (plural breves)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin brevis (“short”), recorded from the 14th century.^[2][3][4][1] Wiktionary takes it as a borrowing because an inherited form would show a different vowel, as Spanish breve would then show the diphthong ⟨ie⟩.^[1] Corominas notes that Catalan breu, Occitan breu and French bref look inherited, but thinks the word was half-learned everywhere; the everyday word was curtus, Portuguese curto.^[5][6]

The nouns are the same Latin word: Latin used the adjective alone for a short syllable, and its neuter for a list or summary, and later Medieval Latin breve (“short writing; charter; letter”) became the source of the papal brief.^[7][1][6][8]

The Latin adjective goes back to Proto-Italic *mreχu- and Proto-Indo-European *mréǵʰus (“short”), enlarged with ⟨i⟩ as other Latin adjectives of the u-stems were.^[9][1] Its cognates are Ancient Greek βραχύς (brakhús, “short”), Sanskrit मुहु (muhu, “suddenly”) and Old High German murg (“short”).^[9][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Machado's first record is from the 14th-century Tratado of Mestre Giraldo, on remedies that kill the worms the sooner the more bitter they are: quanto mais amargosas som quanto mais em breve matam as lombrigas.^[4] The phrase em breve “soon” is there already; the adjective is “short, of brief duration”.^[4][3]

Semantic evolution

The adjective has kept the Latin senses: short in time, short in space, and brief in words.^[2][3][10] In medieval Galicia the phrase en breve “soon” is recorded in the council books of Santiago.^[11]

Houaiss dates the noun “papal brief” to the 15th century;^[2][12] Folqman (1755) has hum breve do Summo Pontifice.^[2][12] Morais (1789) defines the brief as a papal letter without the long clauses of a bull, and records three more nouns: a paper with prayers wrapped round relics, a writing that a jouster offered to the lady in whose honour he fought, and a note in music; in the plural, abbreviations.^[13] The feminine noun for a short syllable or vowel and for the note worth two semibreves is in Figueiredo (1899).^[14] The music note was short at first and is now one of the longest values.^[15]

In Brazil a breve is a small cloth scapular with a prayer, worn round the neck.^[16][17][2]

Timeline

• 14th century – Mestre Giraldo's Tratado has em breve.^[4][3]
• 15th century – Houaiss's first dates for the papal brief and for em breve “soon”.^[2]
• 15th century – first record of breveza “brevity”.^[3]
• 1755 – Folqman: hum breve do Summo Pontifice.^[12]
• 1789 – Morais records the brief, the relic paper, the jouster's writing and the musical note.^[13]
• 1899 – Figueiredo has the feminine noun for a short syllable and the note worth two semibreves.^[14]

Meanings

Adjective

1. brief, short in duration: uma breve pausa.^[2][18][1]
2. Short in extent or distance.^[2][18]
3. concise, expressed in few words: Seja breve, por favor.^[2][18][1]
4. Slight, superficial; light, frugal.^[2][18]
5. (phonetics) Of a vowel, consonant or syllable: pronounced in a shorter time than another.^[2][18]

Adverb

1. soon, shortly: Breve voltaremos.^[2][16][15]

Noun

1. (masculine) A papal brief, a papal letter on a particular matter, less solemn than a bull.^[2][15][1]
2. (masculine, Brazil) A small cloth scapular with a prayer, worn round the neck; bentinho.^[2][16][17]
3. (masculine) An abbreviation (abreviatura).^[2][15]
4. (feminine) A short vowel or syllable.^[2][15][1]
5. (feminine, music) A breve, the note worth two semibreves.^[2][15][1]

Word family

• brevemente

Related words

• brevidade
• breviário
• abreviar
• curto
• Spanish breve

Usage notes

Em breve and dentro em breve mean “soon”, and até breve is a parting formula, “see you soon”.^[2][19][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. breve
3. ^ a b c d e Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. breve
4. ^ a b c d Machado, José Pedro (1987), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., 5 vols., Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, p. s.v. breve
5. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 662
6. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 1291
7. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. brevis
8. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 79
9. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. breve
11. ^ Instituto da Lingua Galega, Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval (DDGM), ed. Ernesto González Seoane, Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/ddgm, p. s.v. breve
12. ^ a b c Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. breve
13. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 1, 197
14. ^ a b Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. 209
15. ^ a b c d e f Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. breve
16. ^ a b c Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. breve
17. ^ a b Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. breve
18. ^ a b c d e Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. breve
19. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 1530