breve

American  

[breev, brev] / briv, brɛv /

noun

1. Phonetics, Orthography. a diacritic (˘) over a vowel to show that it is short, or to indicate a specific pronunciation, as ŭ in (kŭt) cut.

2. Law.

   1. an initial writ.

   2. a writ, as one issued by a court of law.

3. Music.

   1. the longest modern note, equivalent to two semibreves or whole notes.

   2. Also brevis a note in medieval mensural notation equal to one-half or one-third of a longa.

4. Prosody. a mark ( ˘ ) over a syllable to show that it is not stressed.

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breve British  

/ briːv /

noun

1. an accent, (˘), placed over a vowel to indicate that it is of short duration or is pronounced in a specified way

2. music a note, now rarely used, equivalent in time value to two semibreves

3. RC Church a less common word for brief

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Etymology

Origin of breve

1250–1300; Middle English < Medieval Latin, Latin breve, neuter of brevis short; see brief