breve

See also: brève, brêve, and brevê

English

The letter A with breve (1).

Left: breve (2) in modern notation. Centre: breve in mensural notation used in some modern scores as well. Right: less common stylistic variant of the first form.

Etymology 1

From Middle English breve, variant of bref, from Old French brieve, breve (feminine form of brief, bref), from Latin brevis (“short”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɹiːv/, /bɹɛv/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːv, -ɛv

Noun

breve (plural breves)

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

   Synonym: micron

   Antonym: macron

2. (music) A double whole note; a note twice as long as a semibreve.
3. (law) Any writ or precept under seal, issued out of any court.
4. (zoology) A pitta, all of which have more or less short tails.

Derived terms

• alla breve
• breve rest
• espresso breve
• i-breve
• inverted breve
• semibreve

 

Related terms

• brevity
• brief

 

Translations

semicircular diacritical mark

• Catalan: breu (ca) m
• Dutch: breve (nl) c
• Esperanto: hoketo, lunarko
• Finnish: lyhyysmerkki (fi), breve (fi)
• German: Breve (de) n, Verkürzungszeichen n
• Greek: βραχεία (el) f (vracheía)

  Ancient: (ἡ) βραχεῖα (προσῳδία) f ((hē) brakheîa (prosōidía))

• Hungarian: breve (hu), félkör (hu), (somewhat casual) rövidségjel, rövidjel, csónak (hu)
• Icelandic: skál (is) f
• Japanese: 短音記号 (tan'on kigō)
• Latin: signum correptionis n
• Portuguese: braquia m
• Russian: кра́тка (ru) f (krátka), бре́ве (ru) n (bréve), бре́вис m (brévis)
• Spanish: acento breve f
• Vietnamese: dấu trăng, dấu mũ ngược

double whole note

• Basque: karratu
• Catalan: quadrada (ca) f, breu (ca)
• Czech: brevis (cs)
• Dutch: brevis (nl) c
• Estonian: brevis (et)
• Finnish: brevis (fi)
• French: carrée (fr) f
• Galician: cadrada f
• German: Brevis (de) f, Doppelganze f, Doppelganzenote f
• Hungarian: brevis (hu)
• Irish: lán-nóta dúbailte m
• Italian: breve (it) f
• Maori: orowaru
• Slovene: ^{(please verify)} celinka f
• Spanish: cuadrada (es) f
• Swedish: brevisnot c
• Vietnamese: dấu tròn đôi

See also

• brachy
• half note
• longa
• whole note

Etymology 2

From Italian breve.

Noun

breve (plural breves)

1. An equal mix of espresso and half and half cream.

Further reading

• Breve (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Bever, bever

Danish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /breːvə/, [ˈb̥ʁeːvə], [ˈb̥ʁeːw̩]

Noun

breve n pl

1. indefinite plural of brev

Dutch

Etymology

From Latin brevis (“short”). This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbreː.və/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: bre‧ve
• Rhymes: -eːvə

Noun

breve f (plural breves, diminutive brevetje n)

1. (orthography) breve

Anagrams

• bever

Galician

Etymology

From Latin brevis.

Adjective

breve m or f (plural breves)

1. brief

Derived terms

• brevemente

Related terms

• abreviar
• brevidade

Further reading

• “breve”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2024

Indonesian

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch breve (“breve”), from Latin brevis (“short”).

Noun

breve (first-person possessive breveku, second-person possessive brevemu, third-person possessive brevenya)

1. (orthography) breve: a semicircular diacritical mark (˘) placed above a vowel, commonly used to mark its quantity as short.

Further reading

• “breve” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Interlingua

Adjective

breve (comparative plus breve, superlative le plus breve)

1. short

Italian

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin brevis (“short”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbrɛ.ve/
• Rhymes: -ɛve
• Hyphenation: brè‧ve

Adjective

breve (plural brevi)

1. brief, short

   Synonym: corto

   Antonym: lungo

   Il mese è breve. ― The month is short.

2. (literary) narrow

   Synonyms: angusto, stretto

   Antonyms: ampio, largo

3. (prosody) short

Derived terms

• a breve / tra breve
• brevemente
• brevità
• in breve

 

Adverb

breve

1. (literary) briefly

   Synonym: brevemente

Noun

breve f (plural brevi)

1. (prosody) short (short vowel or syllable)
2. (typography) breve (the diacritical mark ˘)
3. (music) breve (double whole note)

Derived terms

• dibreve

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Medieval Latin breve, from Latin brevis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbrɛ.ve/
• Rhymes: -ɛve
• Hyphenation: brè‧ve

Noun

breve m (plural brevi)

1. (historical, Middle Ages) a document recording a business transaction
2. (historical, Middle Ages) an oath sworn by magistrates of a medieval commune
3. (historical, Middle Ages, by extension) the statute of a commune. [13th–14th c.]
4. (Christianity) an official papal document, less solemn than a bull
5. (obsolete, by extension) a strip of paper with a short writing thereon
6. (Christianity) a small bundle containing a saint's relic or written prayers
7. (obsolete) talisman, amulet

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbre.ve/
• Rhymes: -eve
• Hyphenation: bré‧ve

Noun

breve f pl

1. plural of breva

Further reading

• breve¹ in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
• breve² in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Latin

Adjective

breve

1. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular of brevis

Middle English

Adjective

breve

1. Alternative form of bref

Noun

breve

1. Alternative form of bref

Portuguese

Etymology

Probably a borrowing from Latin brevis (“short”) (compare Spanish breve, where *brieve would be expected if the term were inherited), from Proto-Indo-European *mréǵʰus.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈbɾɛ.vi/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈbɾɛ.vi/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈbɾɛ.ve/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈbɾɛ.vɨ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈbɾɛ.vɨ/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈbɾɛ.bɨ/ [ˈbɾɛ.βɨ]

• Hyphenation: bre‧ve

Adjective

breve m or f (plural breves)

1. brief, short

   Synonym: curto

   Antonym: longo

2. summarized
3. minute (very small)

Derived terms

• até breve
• em breve

Related terms

• brevidade

Noun

breve f (plural breves)

1. (music) a double whole note (US) or breve (UK)
2. (phonetics) a syllable or vowel that is quickly pronounced

Noun

breve m (plural breves)

1. a Papal brief

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin brevis (“short”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɾebe/ [ˈbɾe.β̞e]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ebe
• Syllabification: bre‧ve

Adjective

breve m or f (masculine and feminine plural breves, superlative brevísimo)

1. brief, short

   Synonym: corto

   Antonym: largo

Derived terms

• brevedad
• brevemente
• en breve
• la vida es breve
• lo bueno, si breve, dos veces bueno

 

Further reading

• “breve”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28

Swedish

Preposition

breve

1. (colloquial) Pronunciation spelling of bredvid.

Adverb

breve (not comparable)

1. (colloquial) Pronunciation spelling of bredvid.