Where does “breve” come from?

Breve comes from Middle English breve, from Old French brief, from Latin brevis meaning "short," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European mréǵʰus.

breve (English): A semicircular diacritical mark placed above a...

Definitions

  1. A semicircular diacritical mark placed above a...

Ancestry of “breve”, step by step

breve traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Italian breve

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Italianbrevebrief, short; narrow; short
2Medieval Latinbreve—
3Latinbrevisshort, small, little, narrow; brief, short;...
4Proto-Italic*breɣʷis—
5Proto-Indo-Europeanmréǵʰusshort; brief
6Proto-Indo-Europeanmreǵʰ-short

via Middle English breve

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishbreveAlternative form of bref
2Old Frenchbrieve—

Words derived from “breve”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European mreǵʰ- →Every word from Proto-Indo-European mréǵʰus →Every word from Proto-Italic *breɣʷis →