| 释义 |
▪ I. brief, n.|briːf|
Forms: 3–5 bref, 4–5 brefe, 4, 7 breef, 5 breyfe, 6–7 breefe, briefe, 7 breif, Sc. brife, 6– brief.
[ME. bref, a. OF. bref (12th c. brief):—L. breve ‘letter, dispatch, note’, in late cl. L. ‘short catalogue, summary’, neuter of brevis ‘short’. From official Latin the word entered at an early period into all the Teutonic langs. Cf. ON. bréf (found c 1015), Sw. bref, Da. brev, OS., OFris. brêf (Du. brief), OHG. briof (9th c.; MHG., mod.G. brief); but it is not recorded in OE., and appears to have entered early ME. from French. Here also it has remained more distinctly an official or legal word, and has not the general sense ‘letter’, which it has acquired in continental Teutonic.]
Of uncertain sense:
a1225Ancr. R. 122 note (MS. C.) To settin wordis o bref.
I. A letter of authority.
†1. A writing issued by official or legal authority; a royal letter or mandate; a writ, a summons. (Translating L. breve and AFr. bref in various legal meanings.) Obs.
[1292Britton i. i. §4 Solum ceo qe nous les maunderoms par nos brefs [as we shall authorize by our writs]. 1330R. Brunne Chron. 237 Edward sent his brefe to Leulyn for his land. c1425Seven Sag. (P.) 3203 Over alle hys lond hys bref was sente To ase[m]len a comuyn parlyment. 1621H. Elsing Debates Ho. Lords (1870) App. 133 A breefe touching gold and silver thred read. 1641Termes de la Ley 43 Briefe signifies..the proces that issues out of the Chauncery or other Courts, commanding the Sherife to summon or attach A. to answer to the suit of B. etc., but more largely it is taken for any precept of the King in writing under seale, issuing out of any Court. 1882Gunton in Macm. Mag. XLV. 450 In 1533, he was made Clerk of the Briefs in the Star Chamber.
2. A letter of the pope to an individual or a religious community upon matters of discipline. It differs from a bull in being less ample and solemn, and in the form in which it is written. More fully called apostolical brief or papal brief.
c1460Towneley Myst. 127 Nuncius, And, lo sirs, if ye trow not me Ye rede this brefe. 1579Fenton Guicciard. (1618) 30 The Pope..reenioyned him eftsoones by another Briefe, the selfe same things. 1606True & Perf. Relat. Y iv a, The receiuing of two Brieues or Bulls from the Pope. 1710Lond. Gaz. No. 4678/1 The Pope has at last given the Brief of the Cruciata to the King of Spain. 1850A. Jameson Leg. Monast. Ord. (1863) 361 Dominick, armed with the papal brief, hastened thither. 1868W. Cartwright in News of World 29 Mar., A Brief..has but the Pope's name at the beginning—‘Pius Papa IX.’—is signed by the Cardinal Secretary of Briefs, bears date from the Nativity, and is written in modern letters upon soft white parchment.
†b. A letter of credentials given to mendicant friars and the like. Obs.
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xx. 325 The Frere..cam..to þe bisshop & his brief [C. xxiii. 327 breef] hadde In contrees þere he come in confessiouns to here.
c. dial. A begging petition.
1764J. Collier (T. Bobbin) Let. to R.W. in Wks. (1862) Introd. 23 Pray advise..whether, I should not have a brief [on the death of a mare]. 1879G. F. Jackson Shropshire Word-bk. (E.D.S.) Brief, a writing setting forth the circumstances by which a poor person has incurred loss, as by fire, the death of a horse, cow, etc. Such a one takes the brief about to collect money for his indemnification.
3. A letter patent issued by the sovereign as Head of the Church, licensing a collection in the churches throughout England for a specified object of charity; called also a Church Brief or King's Letter. Obs. in practice.
1588Marprel. Epist. 33 Spent thirteene score pounds in distributing briefes for a gathering towards the erecting of a Colledge. 1661Pepys Diary 30 June, To church, where we observe the trade of briefs is come now up to so constant a course every Sunday, that we resolve to give no more to them. 1781Cowper Charity 469 The brief proclaimed, it visits every pew, But first the squire's, a compliment but due. 1820Southey Lett. (1856) III. 193 A wooden thing..such as the churchwardens carry about in the church to collect money for a brief. 1836Penny Cycl. V. 420/2 A brief was issued, in 1835, to increase the funds of the ‘Society for the propagation of the Gospel in foreign parts’.
II.
4. †a. A letter, dispatch, note. Obs.
c1400Destr. Troy 794 And þan ho broght hym a bref all of brode letres, þat was comly by crafte a clerke for to rede. 1572Gascoigne Fruites of Warre (1831) 214 She sent a brief vnto me by hir mayde. 1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iv. iv. 1 Hie, good Sir Michell, beare this sealed Briefe With..haste, to the lord mareshal. 1652C. Stapylton Herodian xvii. 144 When this Briefe was to the Persians born They..flatly doe their message hold in scorn.
†b. Writing, something written. Obs.
c1450Lonelich Grail xxxi. 265 And the Brefis that on the schipe weren set, Signefieth holy Scripture with-owten let. 1786Burns Answ. Poet. Epist. iii, King David, o' poetic brief, Wrocht 'mang the lasses sic mischief.
c. In various slang uses (see quots.).
1860Hotten Dict. Slang (ed. 2) 105 Brief, a pawnbroker's duplicate. 1874Ibid. (ed. 4) 97 Brief,..a raffle card, or a ticket of any kind. 1879Macmillan's Mag. XL. 501/2, I..took a brief (ticket) to London Bridge. 1889Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang I. 180/1 Brief (prison), a note or letter... (Thieves), a ticket, pocket-book, pawnbroker's duplicate. 1939H. Hodge Cab, Sir? xv. 217 It [sc. a cab-driver's licence] is also called the ‘brief’. 1962John o' London's 25 Jan. 82/2 A policeman's warrant card is his brief.
III. Something abbreviated.
†5. A short statement or account of something that is, or might be, more fully treated; an abridgement, epitome, abstract, summary. Obs.
1563J. Man Musculus' Comm-pl. 34 b, A certain brief of those commaundementes [summa quædam eorum præceptorum]. 1589Nashe Anat. Absurditie 5 A suruey of their follie, a briefe of their barbarisme. 1645E. Pagitt Heresiogr. (1647) B iiij b, The Creed being a brief of the Gospel. 1691T. H[ale] Acc. New Invent. 86 A Brief of the Controversie.
†b. fig.
1595Shakes. John ii. i. 103 The hand of time, Shall draw this breefe into as huge a volume. a1613Overbury A Wife (1638) 44 Each woman is a briefe of Womankind.
†c. abstr. Small compass; reduced size.
1572Gascoigne Fruites of Warre cxci, Brought into such brief.
†d. A device, a motto.
1594Nashe Unfort. Trav. 52 With this briefe, Qui inuident egent.
†6. A list, catalogue; an invoice, memorandum.
1590Shakes. Mids. N. v. i. 42 There is a breefe how many sports are rife. 1601F. Tate Househ. Ord. Edw. II, §10 (1876) 10 He shal make a breef everi day of the parcels of al manner of things delivered & spent. Ibid. §47. 28 Therof aunswere daily at the briefs to the clarke of the botery. 1753Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v., Briefs of the dead, Brevia mortuorum, were letters sent by the monks of one monastery to those of another..to inform them of the deaths or obits of their monks. 1849Rock Ch. of Fathers II. vii. 380 The Death-bill, called by some the Mortuary-Roll or Brief.
7. a. Law. A summary of the facts of a case, with reference to the points of law supposed to be applicable to them, drawn up for the instruction of counsel conducting the case in court. to hold a brief: to be retained as counsel in a case, to argue a point for; also fig. in phr. to hold a brief for (a person): to express oneself like an advocate rather than an unbiased and critical appraiser; freq. in neg. to hold no brief for: to be no advocate or supporter of; to take a brief: to accept the conduct of a case.
1631Star Chamber Cases (1886) 39 To print or write breifes of a cause before the hearing..is to be accounted scandalous. 1709Steele Tatler No. 186 ⁋3 The young Fellow..seemed to hold his Brief in his Hand rather to help his Action. 1795Gibbon Autobiog. 108, I spoke as a lawyer from my brief. 1826Disraeli Viv. Grey iii. viii. 128 It is the first day of the Assize, so there is some chance of a brief. 1869Seeley Ess. & Lect. i. 7 Ready as Cicero showed himself to take..a brief..from accused and guilty governors. 1888M. Arnold in 19th Cent. Jan. 24 Professor Dowden holds a brief for Shelley; he pleads for Shelley as an advocate pleads for his client. 1918R. A. Knox Spiritual Aeneid 215 When I was at Balliol, we used to adapt the phrase ‘I hold no brief for So-and-so’.
b. = briefing vbl. n. 2.
1856W. Bagehot in National Rev. III. 164 The calling of a constitutional statesman is very much that of a political advocate; he receives a new brief with the changing circumstances of each successive day. 1940Sphere 10 Aug. 164 The pilots and navigators receive their ‘briefs’. 1940Times 22 Aug. 5/6 (heading) The ‘Brief’ For A Long Journey and Distant Target. 1949Economist 27 Aug. 465/1 The last touches have been put to the brief which Sir Stafford Cripps and Mr Ernest Bevin will be taking with them for the Washington financial talks.
c. (See quot.) Cf. brief-paper (sense 11).
1923H. A. Maddox Dict. Stationery 15 Brief, (1) A standard size of legal bags or envelopes measuring 14 in. by 5 in. (2) A legal pattern of ruled or watermarked foolscap comprising 36 or 42 feint lines and a marginal line.
IV. Something brief or short.
†8. Music. A short note; = breve n. 2. Obs.
c1460Towneley Myst. 116 What was his song? hard ye not how he crakyd it? Three brefes to a long. 1594Barnfield Sheph. Cont. iii, No Briefes nor Semi-Briefes are in my Songs. 1609Douland Ornithop. Microl. 39 A Breefe is a Figure which hath a body foure-square, and wants a tayle. 1658Cokaine Fun. Elegie on T. Pilkington, His life..Death made it be a Briefe; Crotchets he had good store.
†9. Gram. A short syllable, = breve n. 3. Obs.
c1530H. Rhodes Bk. Nurture in Babees Bk. (1868) 71 Corrupt in speeche am I, my breefes from longes to know.
†10. Cards. A means of cheating at cards. Obs.
1680Cotton in Singer Hist. Cards 339 The breef..Take a pack of cards and open them; then take out all the honours..then take the rest and cut a little from the edges of them all alike, by which means the honours will be broader than the rest, so that when your adversary cuts to you, you are certain of an honour; when you cut to your adversary cut at the ends.
11. Comb., as brief-fed adj.; brief-paper; brief-bag, the blue or red bag in which a barrister carries his briefs to and from court; brief-case, a small case made of leather, etc., for carrying papers, documents, and the like; brief-money, money collected under authority of a brief.
1848Punch XV. 190/1 If my *brief-bag is clear, so is my conscience. 1910Encycl. Brit. IV. 562/1 English brief-bags are now either blue or red. Blue bags are those with which barristers provide themselves when first called, and it is a breach of etiquette to let this bag be visible in court. The only brief-bag allowed to be placed on the desks is the red bag, which by English legal etiquette is given by a leading counsel to a junior who has been useful to him in some important case.
1926Amer. Speech I. 444/1 ‘Why don't you rest to-night?’..‘The why is in my *briefcase.’ 1954T. S. Eliot Confid. Clerk i. 15 Enter Colby Simpkins with brief case. 1967S. Beckett Film 36 He drops briefcase.
1820T. Mitchell Aristoph. I. 92 The *brief-fed spark..In haste uprises to display his powers of wit and story.
1686Lady Russell Lett. I. xxxiv. 88 The disposers of the *brief-money met the first time yesterday.
1796Archæologia XII. 116 *Brief paper, even and thin, but yellow with age.
12. pl. Very short knickers (see knicker2), or trunks.
1934Books of To-Day Nov. 10/1 I'm bored to tears with ‘scanties’, I'm sick to death of ‘briefs’. 1959‘M. Neville’ Sweet Night for Murder iii. 40 Cathy, in minute briefs and bra, struggling into her dress. 1968J. Ironside Fashion Alphabet 66 Briefs, snugly fitting panties with straight leg and crutch.
▪ II. brief, a., quasi-n. and adv.|briːf|
Forms: 4–6 bref, breff, brefe, 5–6 bryef, breve, breue, breyf(fe, 6–7 breefe, briefe, 7 breif(e, 6– brief.
[ME. bref, a. OF. bref, fem. breve (= Pr., Cat. breu, It., Sp., Pg. breve):—L. brevem, nom. brevis, short. The vowel has been lengthened in Eng., as in chief, relief, etc.]
A. adj.
1. Of short duration, quickly passing away or ending.
c1325E.E. Allit. P. A. 268, & busyez þe aboute a raysoun bref. c1400Beryn 871 Goith hymselff a begging aftir in breff tyme. 1603Shakes. Meas. for M. ii. ii. 118 Man, proud man, Drest in a little briefe authoritie. 1605― Macb. v. v. 23 Out, out, breefe Candle, Life's but a walking Shadow. 1828Carlyle Misc. (1857) I. 231 Some brief pure moments of poetic life. 1847Tennyson Princ. iv. 43 O tell her, brief is life but love is long, And brief the sun of summer in the North, And brief the moon of beauty in the South.
†b. to be brief: to be expeditious or hasty. Obs.
1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iv. v. 237 Achil. Behold thy fill. Hect. Nay, I haue done already. Achil. Thou art to breefe.
2. Occupying short time in speaking or reading; consisting of few words, short, concise.
c1380Wyclif Wicket Argument, A verye brefe diffinition of these wordes. c1430Hymns Virg. (1867) 55 Ihesu spak wiþ wordis breue. 1494Fabyan ii. xxxv. 26 The more partie of wryters reherce in most breuest or shortest maner. 1547Act 1 Edw. VI, iii. §16 The Curate [shall]..make..a godly and briefe exhortation. 1602Shakes. Ham. ii. ii. 548 The Abstracts and breefe Chronicles of the time. a1680Butler Rem. (1759) I. 263 So 'tis in Books the chief Of all Perfections to be plain and brief. 1725De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 311, I shall give a brief account of it all. 1840Carlyle Heroes vi. 322 As the briefest definition, one might say, etc.
b. to be brief: to speak concisely.
1588Fraunce Lawiers Log. i. iv. 27 As if a man, meaning to be brief, should promise that he would gallop over al the rest of his text. 1644Milton Educ. (1738) 135 Brief I shall endeavour to be. 1762–71H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) II. 135, I shall be but brief on the circumstances of his life.
c. Curt or abrupt in manner. rare.
1818Scott Hrt. Midl. xliv, The bearing of the gracious Duncan was brief, bluff, and consequential.
3. Less usually of extent in space: Short, curtailed, limited. (Cf. 1605 in sense 1.)
1668Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. ii. vi. 97 Contracting the whole Heart in a brief manner. 1824Scott St. Ronan's vi, Wearing the briefest petticoat of any nymph of St. Ronan's. 1863Hawthorne Old Home, Leamington Spa, A small play-place..permeated by brief paths.
†4. fig. Limited, slight, restricted. Obs.
1432–50tr. Higden (1865) I. 71 Some men of pover and breve intellecte. 1611Shakes. Cymb. v. v. 165 Postures, beyond breefe Nature.
¶5. Rife; common; prevalent: often used of epidemic diseases. dial. (The origin of this sense is not clear: the Shakes. quot. is generally cited as an example, but is by no means certain.)
[1595Shakes. John iv. iii. 158 A thousand businesses are briefe in hand, And heauen it selfe doth frowne vpon the Land.] 1706Phillips, Brief, rife, or common. 1721–1800Bailey, Brief, common, or rife. 1848–60Bartlett Dict. Amer., Brief, rife, common, prevalent. This word is..much used by the uneducated in the interior of New England and in Virginia, when speaking of epidemic diseases. 1879Shropsh. Gloss., Brief, prevalent, general. 1881Leicester Gloss. (E.D.S.) s.v. ‘Colds are very brief this east wind.’
B. quasi-n.
a. in brief: in few words, shortly, concisely. With ellipsis of ‘to speak’: In short, to sum up.
1423Jas. I King's Q. cxxvii, Off quhich ryght thus hir ansuere was in bref. 1595Shakes. John ii. i. 267 In breefe, we are the King of Englands subjects. 1609D. Rogers Harl. MS. 1944 lf. 22 A man..published..the matter of y⊇ playes in breife. 1667Milton P.L. vi. 171 To whom in brief thus Abdiel stern repli'd. 1800–24Campbell Cherubs 29 Ay, and a cut-throat too;—in brief, The greatest scoundrel living. 1833H. Martineau Fr. Wines & Pol. ii. 21 Charles gave in brief the story of the storm.
†b. the brief, used absol. like the short. Obs.
1599Shakes. Hen. V, iii. ii. 126 That's the breff and the long. 1601― All's Well ii. iii. 34 'Tis very straunge, that is the breefe and the tedious of it. 1601Bp. Barlow Serm. Paules Crosse 48 The chiefe, and the briefe is this.
C. quasi-adv.
a. Shortly, quickly; in few words, concisely.
b. In brief.
1557North Gueuara's Diall Pr. (1582) 79 b, In this sort I should write vnto thee briefe and touching the purpose. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. iii. iii. 174 It were a griefe, so brief to part with thee. 1667Milton P.L. iv. 876 Those two approached And brief related whom they brought.
b.1600Shakes. A.Y.L. iv. iii. 151 Briefe, I recouer'd him. 1855Browning Fra Lippo, Brief, they made a monk of me.
▪ III. † brief, v.1 Obs.
[f. brief a.]
trans. To shorten, abbreviate, abridge; also with up.
1601R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. Ded. ii, Compendiousnes in briefing such varietie of matter to so small a volume. a1655T. Adams Wks. (1862) II. 135 (D.) Both thy latitude and extension are briefed up.
▪ IV. brief, v.2|briːf|
[f. brief n., sense 7.]
1. trans. To reduce to the form of a counsel's brief.
1837Richardson s.v., It is common among English lawyers as, to brief the pleadings.
2. To put (instructions) into the form of a brief to a barrister. Also fig.
1864G. Dyce Bella Donna I. 304 Being ‘briefed’ to Maxwell, they all fell into one common mould. 1872Lever Ld. Kilgobbin lxxiii. (1875) 397 Instructions which were briefed to him in the case.
3. a. To give a brief to (a barrister), to instruct by brief; to retain as counsel in a suit.
1862Trollope Orley F., I never could look a counsel in the face again if I'd neglected to brief him with such facts as these. 1882Pall Mall G. 5 Apr. 2/2 Should his master be briefed in more than one court at the same time. 1883Times 12 Dec. 4 The company have briefed many of the leading men at the Bar in this case.
b. To give instructions or information to. Cf. briefing vbl. n. 2.
1866Lever Sir B. Fossbrooke xliv, They had not been well ‘briefed’, as lawyers say, or they had not mastered their instructions. 1940Times 22 Aug. 5/6 These calm young men are being ‘briefed’ for a dangerous task. 1955Bull. Atomic Sci. Apr. 119/3 Dr. McNair went to the Strategic Air Command Headquarters in Omaha to brief selected top staff officers on the results of his study. 1959A. Lejeune Crowded & Dangerous x. 113 He handed them over to the secret police and was briefed for another job. |