brevity
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
First attested in English in 1509[1]; either:
- from Latin brevitatem;[1] or
- from Anglo-Norman brevite, from Old French brievete;[2]from Latin brevitās, from brevis (“short”).[1][3]
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Noun
brevity (usually uncountable; plural brevities)
- (uncountable) The quality of being brief in duration.
- 2005, Bill Bryson, A short history of nearly everything:
- Thanks to Global Positioning Systems we can see that Europe and North America are parting at about the speed a fingernail grows—roughly two yards in a human lifetime. If you were prepared to wait long enough, you could ride from Los Angeles all the way up to San Francisco. It is only the brevity of lifetimes that keeps us from appreciating the changes.
- 2005, Bill Bryson, A short history of nearly everything:
- (uncountable) Succinctness; conciseness.
- 1966, Jackson E. Morris, Principles of scientific and technical writing:
- A good technical writing style will now be defined as a style possessing clarity, brevity, and variety.
- 1966, Jackson E. Morris, Principles of scientific and technical writing:
- (rare, countable) A short piece of writing.
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Related terms
[edit] Translations
the quality of being brief in duration
succinctness; conciseness
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