Breviate

adj, noun, verb

adj, noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A short account, brief statement; a summary, abridgement or precis
  2. 2
    A brief missive or dispatch; a note.
  3. 3
    A lawyer's brief.
Verb
  1. 1
    To abbreviate, shorten. obsolete
  2. 2
    To abstract for counsel's instruction, to brief obsolete
Adjective
  1. 1
    Abbreviated, short. obsolete

Etymology

Etymology 1

First attested in 1581; borrowed from Latin breviātum, from the perfect passive participle of breviō (“shorten, abridge”), see -ate (noun-forming suffix).

Etymology 2

First attested in the beginning of the 16ᵗʰ century; either borrowed from Latin breviātus, the perfect passive participle of breviō (“shorten, abridge”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)) or apheretic form of abbreviate.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.