brevity
UK /ˈbɹɛvɪti/ · US /ˈbɹɛvəti/ noun
Forms brevities
- noun (uncountable) The quality of being brief in duration.
- noun (uncountable) Succinctness; conciseness.
- noun (rare, countable) A short piece of writing.
Synonyms
ephemerality concision fleetingness transiency laconicism terseness briefness transience
Etymology
First attested in English in 1509; either:
* Borrowed directly from Latin brevitās; or
* from Anglo-Norman brevité, from Old French brieveté, from Latin brevitātem, accusative of brevitās, from brevis (“short”).
By surface analysis, brief + -ity.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Shortness of duration; briefness of time; as, the brevity of human life.
- noun Contraction into few words; conciseness.
Etymology [L. brevitas, fr. brevis short: cf. F. brièvité. See Brief.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “brevity”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details