breve

American  

[breev, brev] / briv, brɛv /

noun

• breves
  plural

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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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• breves
  plural

Etymology

Origin of breve

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

breve breves

B. breve and B. longum bacteria groups were thought to be beneficial.

From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2024

One in particular, called B. breve, could help babies make the most of nutrients in breast milk and ward off bugs, preliminary tests suggest.

From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2024

His breve bid for the presidency will restore in the United States the ideals of Athenian democracy — or at least give us a good Greek yogurt parfait.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 30, 2019

He had added a symphony which bore the bombastic title of the Basle Boecklin, "The Dream of Life," and the motto: "Vita somnium breve."

From Jean-Christophe, Volume I by Gilbert Cannan

All the editions are lento with alla breve.

From Chopin : the Man and His Music by James Huneker

These missae breves, or short Masses, as Protestant churches used them in Bach’s time, retained only the Kyrie and Gloria of the Roman Catholic Mass, stopping short of the Credo for obvious reasons.

From New York Times ● Oct. 20, 2015

Before him on the sheet was half a line of breves and semibreves, which Nancy remembered from her childhood as little men getting over stiles.

From The Devourers by Annie Vivanti Chartres

Then come the roses--the beautiful June roses--the nimium breves flores of Horace.

From A Cotswold Village by J. Arthur Gibbs

The title-page of a book now before me runs as follows: "Kanuti Episcopi Vibergensis Quedam breves expositõs s legum et jurium cõcordantie et allegatiões circa leges iucie"; at the foot is "Ripis, M. Brand, MIƆIIII".

From Book Collecting: A Guide for Amateurs by J. Herbert (John Herbert) Slater

Macrons, breves, umlauts etc have been removed from the body of the text since they were very obtrusive and made reading difficult.

From "De Bello Gallico" and Other Commentaries by Julius Caesar