Etymograph

English

breve

Breve comes from Latin brevis ‘short’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEbrevis1‘short’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400brieve1
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500breve1
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1818breve1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English breve
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1818, Jedediah Cleishbotham pseudonym; Walter , I. Being Introductory.: “But what, are you puzzling in your pockets to…”.

Earlier history not traced here. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEbrevisWiktionary, English breve‘short’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400brieveWiktionary, English breve
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500breveWiktionary, English breve
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1818breveWiktionary, English breve. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1818, Jedediah Cleishbotham pseudonym; Walter , I. Being Introductory.: “But what, are you puzzling in your pockets to…”

Linked words

through Latin brevis ‘short’

brief, brevity, abbreviate, breviary, 12 more

through Old French brieve

briefly, 1 more

Another origin of breve

  1. Italianc. 1300–presentbreve
  2. Englishtodaybreve

Today it means

noun A semicircular diacritical mark (˘) placed above a vowel, commonly used to mark its quantity as short.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “breve”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin brevis / breve

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