# brief

> English word · Adjective · IPA /bɹiːf/ · frequency rank #2,881

## Definitions
1. Of short duration; happening quickly.
2. Concise; taking few words.
3. Occupying a small distance, area or spatial extent; short.
4. Rife; common; prevalent.

## Etymology
From Middle English breef, breve, bref, from Old French brief, bref, from Latin brevis (“short”), from Proto-Indo-European *mréǵʰus (“short, brief”). Doublet of breve and merry.

## Easily confused with
- **Brit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brief-vs-brit)
- **brig** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brief-vs-brig)
- **brim** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brief-vs-brim)
- **brin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brief-vs-brin)
- **bring** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brief-vs-bring)
- **Brits** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brief-vs-brits)
- **brink** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brief-vs-brink)
- **brisk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brief-vs-brisk)
- **Britt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brief-vs-britt)
- **brine** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brief-vs-brine)
- **brill** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brief-vs-brill)
- **buried** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brief-vs-buried)
- **briefs** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brief-vs-briefs)
- **briefly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brief-vs-briefly)
- **briefed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brief-vs-briefed)
- **Bri** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bri-vs-brief)
- **beef** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/beef-vs-brief)
- **bred** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bred-vs-brief)
- **brew** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brew-vs-brief)
- **bree** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bree-vs-brief)

## Common misspellings (7)
`bbrief`, `biref`, `breif`, `brieff`, `brife`, `brrief`, `rbief`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/brief