Brief in different languages

Brief in Different Languages

Discover 'Brief' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.

Updated on March 6, 2024

The word 'brief' holds a significant place in our vocabulary, often used to describe something that is concise, to the point, or lasting a short time. But did you know that this word has cultural importance that stretches back to Latin origins? The word 'brief' comes from the Latin 'brevis', meaning short or shortened. This root can also be found in words like 'abbreviate' and 'brevity'.

Understanding the translation of 'brief' in different languages can provide insight into how cultures around the world view conciseness and brevity. For example, in Spanish, 'brief' translates to 'breve', in French to 'bref', and in German to 'kurz'. Each of these translations provides a unique cultural perspective on the concept of brevity.

Moreover, knowing the translation of 'brief' in different languages can be useful in both personal and professional settings. Whether you're traveling, studying a new language, or working with colleagues from different cultural backgrounds, understanding this simple yet powerful word can help facilitate communication and build connections.

So, without further ado, here are some translations of the word 'brief' in different languages. Explore, learn, and connect with cultures around the world!

Brief


Brief in Sub-Saharan African Languages

Afrikaanskort
"Kort" can also mean "short" or "small" in the sense of not enough or inferior.
Amharicአጭር
The word "አጭር" also means "short" or "narrow" in Amharic.
Hausaa takaice
The word "a takaice" is also used to refer to an excerpt.
Igbonkenke
"Nkenke" in Igbo can also mean 'a short period of time' or 'a brief moment' in addition to 'brief' (as an adjective describing something short).
Malagasyfamintinana
"Famintinana" also means "in the blink of an eye" or "in short" in Malagasy, indicating a brief or short period of time.
Nyanja (Chichewa)mwachidule
The word "mwachidule" can also refer to a summary or abstract.
Shonapfupi
The word "pfupi" comes from the Proto-Bantu root "*-pupi" and is related to the concepts of "shortness", "smallness", and "lacking substance".
Somalikooban
In older Somali, 'kooban' also meant 'difficult' or 'narrow'.
Sesotholekgutshwanyane
The Sesotho word "lekgutshwanyane" can also mean "shorts" or "a pair of shorts".
Swahilikifupi
"Kifupi" also means "short" or "small" and can be used figuratively to refer to something concise or insignificant.
Xhosaimfutshane
In Nguni languages like Xhosa and Zulu, "imfutshane" also refers to a type of traditional short-handled axe.
Yorubafinifini
The word "finifini" also means "concise, succinct, short, or compact" in Yoruba.
Zulumfushane
"Mfushane" can also refer to a short person or a brief moment.
Bambarasurunma
Ewekpuie
Kinyarwandamuri make
Lingalamokuse
Lugandamu bufunze
Sepedikopana
Twi (Akan)tiawa

Brief in North African & Middle Eastern Languages

Arabicنبذة
"نبذة" in Arabic can also refer to a synopsis or a summary of a subject.
Hebrewקָצָר
קָצָר in Hebrew can refer to a short person or animal, as is seen with the קָצָר dog breed and the expression “קָצָר וגוץ,” meaning “short and squat.”
Pashtoلنډ
The word "لنډ" ("brief") in Pashto can also mean "narrow" or "thin."
Arabicنبذة
"نبذة" in Arabic can also refer to a synopsis or a summary of a subject.

Brief in Western European Languages

Albaniantë shkurtër
Basquelaburra
The Basque word "laburra" derives from the Proto-Basque root *labur-, meaning "short" or "brief," and is related to the Spanish word "labor" and the English word "labour."
Catalanbreu
Catalan word "breu" may be a contraction of "brevior" or a shortening of the Latin "brevis".
Croatiankratak
Kratak comes from the Proto-Indo-European root *ker-, meaning 'to cut', and is related to words like 'create' and 'criterion'.
Danishkort
Kort in Danish also means 'map' or 'playing card' and is related to the English word 'chart'.
Dutchkort
The word "kort" also means "short" in the sense of shortness in length or duration, and "curt" in the sense of being rudely brief or abrupt.
Englishbrief
Brief, meaning a short period of time, comes from the 14th century and derives from the Latin brevis, meaning 'short'.
Frenchbref
The French word "bref" can also mean "in short" or "in a nutshell".
Frisiankoart
Koart is related to the English word 'short', and also means 'tight'
Galicianbreve
In Galician, 'breve' can also mean 'letter' or 'document'
Germankurz
The word "kurz" in German is also used to refer to a musical note or a type of sausage.
Icelandicstutt
"stutt" may refer to "stunted" or "short" in English.
Irishgairid
In Irish, 'gairid' also means 'short' and is related to the Old Irish word 'gair', meaning 'near' or 'close'.
Italianbreve
Breve in Italian also refers to notes having a duration equal to two whole notes or four half notes in music
Luxembourgishkuerz
The Luxembourgish word "kuerz" is derived from the German word "kurz" and can also mean "short" or "concise"
Malteseqasira
The word "qasira" in Maltese comes from the Arabic word "qaṣīra", meaning "short" or "brief". It can also refer to a type of traditional Maltese shortbread cookie.
Norwegiankort
Although 'kort' usually means 'brief', it can also refer to playing cards as in 'kortstokk' 'deck of cards'
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil)breve
In Portuguese, "breve" can refer to a type of musical notation indicating a short note.
Scots Gaelicghoirid
The term "ghoirid" in Scots Gaelic can also denote "shortly" or "in a little while."
Spanishbreve
The Spanish word "breve" comes from the Latin word "brevis", meaning "short" or "concise".
Swedishkort
The word 'kort' in Swedish also has the alternate meaning of 'short' in length or stature.
Welshbriff
The Welsh word "briff" also colloquially refers to a summary or digest, akin to its English etymology.

Brief in Eastern European Languages

Belarusianкароткі
Кароткі is the Belarusian word for "short", and also means "brief," "concise," "cursory," and "summary".
Bosniankratak
"Kratak" derives from the Proto-Slavic word *kъrtъkъ, meaning "short, cut-off", which also gave rise to "krūtas" in Lithuanian, "kratak" in Slovenian, and "kratok" in Macedonian.
Bulgarianкратко
In some contexts, "кратко" can also mean "concise", "succinct" or "to the point"
Czechstručný
The Czech word "stručný" not only means "brief", but also "concise", "terse", and "succinct".
Estonianlühike
The Estonian word "lühike" also refers to a short distance.
Finnishlyhyt
"Lyhyt" is also the root of "lyhenne" which means an abbreviation.
Hungarianrövid
The Hungarian word "rövid" also means "short" in length or duration, and has cognates in several Uralic languages suggesting an origin from Proto-Uralic *räpät "to break off, to shorten, to abbreviate".
Latvianīss
The word "īss" likely originates from the Proto-Indo-European root "*eis-", meaning "to go fast" or "to hurry".
Lithuaniantrumpai
"Trumpas" also means "small" or "narrow" in the Lithuanian language.
Macedonianкраток
The word "краток" comes from the Proto-Slavic word *kratъkъ, which also meant "short", "concise", or "quick."
Polishkrótki
"Krótki" derives from the Proto-Slavic "kortokъ" and relates to the words "kruk" (raven), "kraka" (crow), and "kurcz" (hen), possibly from the birds' short legs.
Romanianscurt
The Romanian word "scurt" is derived from the Latin word "curtus", meaning "short" or "brief".
Russianкраткий
"Краткий" also means "concise, succinct" or "curt, abrupt" (e.g. to answer krajko, which translates to "bluntly, without beating around the bush").
Serbianкратак
In Old Church Slavonic, "кратакъ" meant "short", but in Serbian, it also means "momentary" and "short-lived".
Slovakstručné
The word "stručné" also means "concise" and "laconic" in Slovak.
Sloveniankratek
In Russian, "краткий" also means "brief," but its other related meanings are "concise," "condensed," and "summary."
Ukrainianкороткий
"Короткий" comes from the Old Russian word "кырьтити", which means "to cut". It originally referred to something that was cut short, hence its meaning of "brief".

Brief in South Asian Languages

Bengaliসংক্ষিপ্ত
The Bengali word "সংক্ষিপ্ত" has Sanskrit origins and relates to the concept of "conciseness" or "summary."
Gujaratiસંક્ષિપ્તમાં
Hindiसंक्षिप्त करें
The Hindi word 'संक्षिप्त करें' also means 'to condense' or 'to abridge'.
Kannadaಸಂಕ್ಷಿಪ್ತ
Malayalamചുരുക്കത്തിലുള്ള
Marathiथोडक्यात
The Marathi word "थोडक्यात" can also mean "in a nutshell" or "in summary".
Nepaliसंक्षिप्त
The term संक्षिप्त in Nepali is derived from the Sanskrit word "samkshipta" which signifies conciseness or abbreviation.
Punjabiਸੰਖੇਪ
The word "ਸੰਖੇਪ" (sankhep) in Punjabi is derived from the Sanskrit word "संक्षिप्त" (sankshipta), meaning "contracted" or "abbreviated".
Sinhala (Sinhalese)කෙටියෙන්
Tamilசுருக்கமான
Teluguక్లుప్తంగా
Urduمختصر
The word "مختصر" can also mean "precise" or "succinct" in Urdu.

Brief in East Asian Languages

Chinese (Simplified)简要
"简" originally meant "select" and "要" meant "important".
Chinese (Traditional)簡要
The term "簡要" in Chinese can also refer to "simplicity" or "conciseness" beyond its primary meaning of "brief".
Japanese簡単な
The word "簡単な" (brief) is derived from the word "簡易" (simple, easy), which is itself derived from the Chinese word "簡易" (easy, convenient).
Korean간결한
"간결한" can also mean "concise" or "succinct"
Mongolianтовч
Mongolian word "товч" originally meant "close, narrow" before also acquiring the meaning of "brief" in the 16th century.
Myanmar (Burmese)အကျဉ်း
In Myanmar, the word "အကျဉ်း" (brief) can also refer to the essential or precise points of an idea or topic.

Brief in South East Asian Languages

Indonesiansingkat
The word "singkat" in Indonesian also has the meaning of "shorthand" or "abbreviation".
Javaneseringkes
"Ringkes" is an archaic word in Javanese and a term used in traditional Javanese literature, but it still can be used in the modern Javanese language with equivalent meaning to the word "cekak".
Khmerសង្ខេប
Laoໂດຍຫຍໍ້
Malayringkas
The word "ringkas" can also mean "short (in length)" or "concise" in Malay.
Thaiสั้น ๆ
สั้น ๆ can also mean "shortly" or "in short".
Vietnamesengắn gọn
"Ngắn gọn" (brief) comes from "ngắn" (short) and "gọn" (concise), highlighting the shortness and conciseness of something.
Filipino (Tagalog)maikli

Brief in Central Asian Languages

Azerbaijaniqısa
The word "qısa" also means "short" in Azerbaijani, "short" in Ottoman Turkish, and "narrow" in Turkish.
Kazakhқысқаша
The Kazakh word "қысқаша" also means "shortly" or "in brief".
Kyrgyzкыска
The word "кыска" in Kyrgyz can also mean "short" or "narrow".
Tajikмухтасар
The word "мухтасар" also means "short" or "concise" in Tajik.
Turkmengysga
Uzbekqisqacha
The word "qisqacha" in Uzbek can also mean "short" or "succinct".
Uyghurقىسقا

Brief in Pacific Languages

Hawaiianpōkole
The word "pōkole" in Hawaiian can also mean "stunted" or "short-lived".
Maoripoto
In Maori, "poto" can also refer to the length of a garment or to a cut of meat.
Samoanpuʻupuʻu
The word "pu'upu'u" can also refer to a hill or mound in Samoan.
Tagalog (Filipino)maikli
The word

Brief in American Indigenous Languages

Aymarajuk'aki
Guaranisapy'aite

Brief in International Languages

Esperantomallonga
"Mallonga" in Esperanto comes from the Latin "male longus," meaning "not long."
Latinbrevis
Latin "brevis" also means "ephemeral, short-lived" and is related to "breviare" (to abbreviate).

Brief in Others Languages

Greekσύντομος
In ancient Greek, the word “σύντομος” had a broader meaning and referred to anything that was concise, concise, or easy to understand.
Hmongluv luv
In Hmong, the word "luv luv" also means "to quickly finish something" or "to make something very short"
Kurdishkin
The Kurdish word "kin" also means "short" or "small".
Turkishkısa
The Turkish word "kısa" not only means "brief" but also "short" in length or time.
Xhosaimfutshane
In Nguni languages like Xhosa and Zulu, "imfutshane" also refers to a type of traditional short-handled axe.
Yiddishקורץ
In Yiddish, the word "קורץ" (kurtz) also means "short" or "small".
Zulumfushane
"Mfushane" can also refer to a short person or a brief moment.
Assameseচমু
Aymarajuk'aki
Bhojpuriछोटहन
Dhivehiވަރަށް ކުޑަ
Dogriमुखसर
Filipino (Tagalog)maikli
Guaranisapy'aite
Ilocanobiit
Krioshɔt
Kurdish (Sorani)کورت
Maithiliसंक्षिप्त
Meiteilon (Manipuri)ꯁꯝꯂꯞꯄ
Mizotawite
Oromogabaabaa
Odia (Oriya)ସଂକ୍ଷିପ୍ତ
Quechuauchuylla
Sanskritसाक्षिप्तं
Tatarкыска
Tigrinyaሓፂር
Tsongankomiso

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