bref

From Old French brief, from Latin brevis. A folk etymology derives it as an acronym of Bon, Revenons-En aux Faits, but this is completely inacurate.

• IPA^(key): /bʁɛf/

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bref (feminine brève, masculine plural brefs, feminine plural brèves)

1. brief (of short duration)

   Il lui envoya un bref message de quelques lignes seulement.

   He sent her a brief message of only a few lines.

bref

1. (informal) in short, in brief, briefly

   Je vous ai déjà dit que cela ne se peut, que cela ne doit pas être ; bref, je ne le veux pas.

   I have already told you that that cannot be, that it must not be; in short, I do not want it.

• “bref”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

• breef, breve, brefe, breefe

Borrowed from Old French brief, and its feminine form brieve, from Latin brevis, form Proto-Italic *breɣʷis, from Proto-Indo-European *mréǵʰus. Doublet of mery.

• IPA^(key): /breːf/, /ˈbreːv(ə)/

bref (plural and weak singular breve)

1. concise (having a short word-count)
2. brief (short, ephemeral or quick)
3. (rare) diminutive, little
4. (rare) stupid

• brevely

• English: brief
• Scots: brief

• “brẹ̄f, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-11-09.

bref (plural brefes)

1. A message, especially one that gives approval or authorises.
2. brief (writ, summons)
3. A written text or part of one acting as a record.
4. (rare, music) breve (double whole note)

• English: brief, breve
• Scots: brief, brieve, breef, briefe

• “brẹ̄f, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-11-09.

From Latin brevis.

bref oblique singular, m (oblique plural bres, nominative singular bres, nominative plural bref)

1. Alternative form of brief

bref n

1. Obsolete spelling of brev

From the verbal base of brefaf / brefu (“to bleat, bellow, bray”), from Proto-Brythonic *brėβ̃ɨd (“to make noise”).

• IPA^(key): /breːv/
• Rhymes: -eːv

bref m (plural brefau or brefion)

1. a bleat, low, bellow, bray, roar, cry

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “bref”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies
• Cheung, Johnny (2007) Etymological Dictionary of the Iranian Verb (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 2), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 24