Brief

·adv Soon; quickly.

II. Brief ·adj Short in duration.

III. Brief ·adj Rife; common; prevalent.

IV. Brief ·adj Concise; terse; succinct.

V. Brief ·adv Briefly.

VI. Brief ·adj An Epitome.

VII. Brief ·adj A writ; a breve. ·see Breve, ·noun, 2.

VIII. Brief ·adj A short concise writing or letter; a statement in few words.

IX. Brief ·vt To make an abstract or abridgment of; to Shorten; as, to brief pleadings.

X. Brief ·noun A letter patent, from proper authority, authorizing a collection or charitable contribution of money in churches, for any public or private purpose.

XI. Brief ·noun A writ issuing from the chancery, directed to any judge ordinary, commanding and authorizing that judge to call a jury to inquire into the case, and upon their verdict to pronounce sentence.

XII. Brief ·adj An abridgment or concise statement of a client's case, made out for the instruction of counsel in a trial at law. This word is applied also to a statement of the heads or points of a law argument.