Where does “brief” come from?
brief (German) comes from Middle High German brief, from Old High German briaf, from Latin breve, from Latin brevis, from Proto-Italic *breɣʷis, from Proto-Indo-European mréǵʰus, from Proto-Indo-European mreǵʰ- — short.
Ancestry of “brief”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle High German | brief | — |
| 2 | Old High German | briaf | — |
| 3 | Latin | breve | nominative neuter singular of brevis; accusative... |
| 4 | Latin | brevis | short, small, little, narrow; brief, short;... |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | *breɣʷis | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | mréǵʰus | short; brief |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | mreǵʰ- | short |