Brevity

  • 1Brevity — Brev i*ty, n.; pl. {Brevities}. [L. brevitas, fr. brevis short: cf. F. bri[ e]vit[ e]. See {Brief}.] 1. Shortness of duration; briefness of time; as, the brevity of human life. [1913 Webster] 2. Contraction into few words; conciseness. [1913… …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 2brevity — ► NOUN 1) concise and exact use of words. 2) shortness of time. ● brevity is the soul of wit Cf. ↑brevity is the soul of wit ORIGIN Latin brevitas, from brevis brief …

    English terms dictionary

  • 3brevity — c.1500, from L. brevitatem (nom. brevitas) shortness in space or time, from brevis short (see BRIEF (Cf. brief)) …

    Etymology dictionary

  • 4brevity — [n] shortness, briefness conciseness, concision, condensation, crispness, curtness, economy, ephemerality, impermanence, pithiness, pointedness, succinctness, terseness, transience, transitoriness; concepts 730,804 Ant. lengthiness, longevity,… …

    New thesaurus

  • 5brevity — [brev′ə tē] n. [L brevitas < brevis, BRIEF] 1. the quality of being brief; shortness of time 2. the quality of being concise; terseness …

    English World dictionary

  • 6Brevity — Infobox Comic strip caption=Cover of the second Brevity book released August 2007. title=Brevity 2 creator=Guy Rodd current= status=Current syndicate=United Media comictype=print genre=humor first=January 3 2005 last=Brevity is a single panel… …

    Wikipedia

  • 7brevity — /brev i tee/, n. 1. shortness of time or duration; briefness: the brevity of human life. 2. the quality of expressing much in few words; terseness: Brevity is the soul of wit. [1500 10; < AF brevite, OF brievete. See BRIEF, ITY] Syn. 2.&#8230; …

    Universalium

  • 8brevity — [[t]bre̱vɪti[/t]] 1) N UNCOUNT: oft N of n The brevity of something is the fact that it lasts for only a short time. [FORMAL] The bonus of this homely soup is the brevity of its cooking time. 2) N UNCOUNT Brevity is the use of only a few words to …

    English dictionary

  • 9brevity — brev•i•ty [[t]ˈbrɛv ɪ ti[/t]] n. 1) shortness of time or duration; briefness 2) the quality of expressing much in few words • Etymology: 1500–10; &LT; AF brevite, OF brievete. See brief, ity syn: brevity, conciseness refer to the use of few words …

    From formal English to slang

  • 10brevity — brev|i|ty [ˈbrevıti] n [U] formal [Date: 1400 1500; : Latin; Origin: brevitas, from brevis; BRIEF1] 1.) the quality of expressing something in very few words →↑brief ▪ Letters published in the newspaper are edited for brevity and clarity. 2.) the …

    Dictionary of contemporary English