brief 
This mon that Matheu jef 
A peny that wes so bref. 
Specimens of Lyric Poetry (ed. Wright), p. 43. 
It is very difficult to notice this great language suitably 
in the brief space available. 
R. y. Cust, Mod. Langs. E. Ind., p. 45. 
2. Abbreviated; cut or made short: as, the 
brief skirts of a ballet-dancer. [Humorous.] 
3. Short in duration; lasting a short time. 
How brief the life of man. Sliak., As you Like it, iii. 2. blieft (bref ), adv. 
A fainter bloom, a more delicate and briefer beauty. short ; briefly. 
Hawthorne, Scarlet Letter, ii. 
4. Short in expression ; using few words ; con- 
cise; succinct. 
Duch. I will be mild and gentle in my words. 
K . Rich. And brief, good mother, for I am in haste. 
Shalt., Rich. III., iv. 4. 
Thy power is confined, thy time is limited ; both thy 
latitude and extension are briefed up. 
Rev. T. Adams, Works, II. 135. 
682 brigandine 
2. A utensil used in breweries and in dairies 
to set the strainer on. [North. Eng.] 3. A 
kind of iron set over a fire. Hattiwcll. [North. 
Eng.] 4. A ledge of rocks running out into 
the sea. E. D. 
2. To furnish with a brief ; instruct by a bnet. brig 2 (brig), n. [Short for brigantine^, q. v. 
Hence D. brik, G. brigg, Dan. brig, Sw. brigg, 
F. brick, Ar. brik, a brig.] 1 . A vessel with two 
masts square-rigged, nearly like a ship's main- 
mast and foremast. 2. The place on board 
Descriptive lists of 15,107 soldiers briefed and filed away. 
Rep. of Sec. U. S. Treasury, 1886, p. 590. 
[Rare.] 
I never could look a counsel in the face again if I'd neg- 
lected to brief him with such facts as these. Trollope. 
[< brief, a.~\ 1. In brief; in 
Brief, I recover'd him ; bound up his wound. 
Shak., As you Like it, iv. I 
2. In or after a short time ; soon; quickly. 
The brief style is that which expresseth much in little. 
B. Jonson, Discoveries. 
But that a joy past joy calls out on me, 
It were a grief so brief to part with thee : 
Farewell. Shak., R. and J., iii. 3. brigade (bri-gad'), 
briefless (bref'les), a. [< brief, n., + -less.'} g ( ,de, ' 
Having no brief: as, a briefless barrister. 
a man-of-war where prisoners are confined. 
Hermaphrodite brig, a brig that is square-rigged for- 
ward and schooner-rigged aft. Also called brig-schooner. 
She passed out of hail, but we made her out to be an her- 
maphrodite brig, with Brazilian colors in her main rigging. 
R. II. Dana, Jr., Before the Mast, p. 18. 
v ___ __ , ; [= D. G. Dan. Sw. bri- 
gade, <. F. brigade, < It. brigata (ML. brigata, 
brigada), a troop, company, < brigare, contend : 
5. Clever; good: as, a brief discourse; "hegae brieflessness (bref'les-nes), n. The state of see brigand.] 1. A party or division of troops 
us a very brief sermon,^' Jamieson. _ [Scotch.] j, e i n g w ithout a brief or a client. 
[Scotch.] 7t. Quick; ready ; briefly (bref'li), adv. [< ME. brefly, brevely; , 
brief + -% 2 .] 1. In a brief manner; concisely; squadrons, or battalions, under the 
i n few words. 2. With little length ; shortly: of a brigadier, or brigadier-general. 
6. Keen. 
eager, 
Doe you not perceive the noose you have brought your 
selfe into whilst you were so briefe to taunt other men 
with weaknesse? Milton, Del. of Humb. Remonst. 
as, in entom., briefly pilose, hairy, or spinous. 
[Rare.] 
or soldiers, whether cavalry or infantry, regu- 
lars or militia, consisting of several regiments, 
command 
_ ^ r ^ A brigade 
of horse is"a body of eight'or ten squadrons; of infantry, 
four, five, or six battalions or regiments. 
as, I hear smallpox is very brief there. 
Eng. ] In brief, (a) In few words ; briefly. 
Open the matter in brief. Shak., T. O. of V., i. 1. 
(6) In short. 
In brief, sir, study what you most affect. 
Shak.,T. of the S., i. 1. 
= Syn. 3. Short-lived, ephemeral, transitory, fleeting. 4. 
Compact, compendious. 
II. n. 1. A short or concise writing; a 
short statement or account; an epitome. 
I shall make it plain as far as a sum or brief can make 
a cause plain. Bacon. 
And she told me, 
In a sweet verbal brief. Shak., All's Well, v. 3. 
Out of your gentleness, please you to consider 
The brief of this petition, which contains 
All hope of my last fortunes. Ford, Fancies, ii. 1. 
Specifically 2. In law: (a) A formal memo- 
randum in systematic order, but concisely ex- 
pressed, of the points of law or of fact to be 
developed or expanded in argument, or to be 
pursued in the examination of a witness; in 
English law, more usually an abridged relation 
of the facts of a litigated case drawn up by the 
attorney for the instruction of a barrister in 
conducting proceedings in a court of justice. 
The young fellow had a very good air, and seemed to 
hold his brief in his hand rather to help his action than 
that he wanted notes for his further information. 
Steele, Tatler, No. 186. 
His matter was so completely at his command that he 
scarcely looked at his brief. R. Choate, Addresses, p. 272. brier-bird (brl'er- 
(6) A writ summoning one to answer to any 
action ; or any precept of the sovereign in writ- 
ing issuing from any court and ordering some- 
thing to be done, (c) In Scots law, same as 
script. Quarterly ^.<-</. 
L briefness (bref'nes), n. [< ME. breffnes; < 
brief + -ness.] The state or quality of being 
brief; shortness; brevity; conciseness in dis- 
course or writing. 
We passe over that, brefnes of tyme consyderynge. 
Coventry Mysteries, p. 70. 
There is a briefness of the parts sometimes that makes 
the whole long. B. Jonson, Discoveries. 
brier (bri'er), n. [E. dial._and So. breer; < ME. 
brere, < AS. brer, also breer, a brier, bramble ; 
cf. Icel. brorr, a brier (rare and uncertain). 
Cf. Ir. Gael, preas, a bush, brier (Ir. briar, a 
thorn, pin, bodkin, is prob. bor- 
household. 
irigade (bri-gad'), v. t. ; pret. and pp. brigaded, 
ppr. brigading. [< brigade, n.] 1. To form in- 
to a brigade or into brigades : as, regiments of 
militia are brigaded with regiments of the line. 
In the organization of the army my regiment was bri- 
gaded with the Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Regiments of 
Louisiana Infantry. 
Gen. Rich. Taylor, N. A. Rev., CXXVI. 85. 
Hence 2. To arrange or embody in a single 
collection or group ; group together, as in zool- 
ogy, under a single name. [Rare.] 
The two Classes [Birds and Reptiles) which he [Huxley] 
had previously brigaded under the name of Sauropsida. 
A. Newton, Encyc. Brit., XVIII. 34. 
An officer 
brieve (which see). ' (d) In England, T letter brier-root (bri'er-rot), n. [< brier, an adapted 
E. form of F. bruy&re, dial, briere, heath (see 
patent from proper authority authorizing a 
public collection or charitable contribution of 
money for any public or private purpose ; a li- 
cense to make collections for repairing churches, 
making up for losses by fire, etc. : sometimes 
called a church brief or king's letter. 
This day was read in our church the Briefe for a collec- 
tion for reliefe of y Protestant French, so cruelly, bar- 
barously, and inhumanly oppress'd. 
Evelyn, Diary, April 25, 1686. 
3f. A writing in general ; a letter. 
Bear this sealed brief, 
With winged haste, to the lord marshal. 
Shak., 1 Hen. IV., iv. 4. 
4f. In music, same as breve, 1. 
Upon the word best there, you see how I do enter witli 
an odd minum, and drive it through the brief; which no 
intelligent musician, I know, but will affirm to be very 
rare. B. Jonson, Cynthia's Revels, iv. 1. 
5. The name given to certain official docu- 
brier, also a , __, , , 
rowed from E.). The F. bruyere, dial, briere 
(earlier bruyere, briere Cat. bruguera = It. brigade-major (bri-gad'ma"jor), TO. 
dial, brughiera (ML. bruarium^ bruera), heath, a pp O inted by a brigadier to assist him in the 
heather, prob. < Pr. bru = It. dial, brug = Swiss manage ment and ordering of his brigade. 
bruch, heath; of Celtic origin: < Bret, brug, brigadier (brig-a-der'), TO. [= It. brigadiere, < 
heath, = W. brw g, a brake, growth), is not re- F brigadier, < brigade, brigade.] A general offl- 
lated. The reg. mod. E. form would be breer, cer wno commands a brigade, whether of horse 
which exists dialectally ; cf. friar, earlier frier, or footi an( j ran k s nex t below a major-general. 
< ME. frere. ] A prickly plant or shrub in gen- brigadier-general (brig - a - der ' gen ' e - ral), n. 
eral; specifically, the sweetbrier^or the green- g ame as brigadier. 
brigand (brig'and), . [Formerly also brigant 
(after It.) ; < F" brigand, a brigand, OF. brigand, 
brigant, an armed foot-soldier (ML. brigantes, 
brigandi, pi., foot-soldiers), < It. brigante, a 
I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness brigand, pirate, also an intriguer, < brigante, 
nd with briers. vm. , . Qf g^g gtrive afteri conte nd for, solicit, 
< briga, strife, quarrel, trouble : see brigue.] If. 
A sort of irregular foot-soldier. 2. A robber; 
a freebooter; a highwayman; especially, one 
of a gang of robbers living in secret retreats in 
mountains or forests. 
These solitudes gave refuge to smugglers and brigands. 
Buckle, Civilization, II. 65. 
Francois, with his belt, sabre, and pistols, had much the 
aspect of a Greek brigand. 
B. Taylor, Lands of the Saracen, p. 33. 
= Syn. 2. Bandit, etc. See robber. 
brier (which see). Also spelled briar. 
The gentle shepheard satte beside a springe, 
All in the shadowe of a bushye brere. 
Spenser, Shep. Cal., December. 
trier-uuu ^mi ci-ucm;. . A popular name 
of the American goldfinch, Chrysomitris (or 
Astragalinus) tristis. See cut under goldfinch. 
briered (bri'erd), a. [< brier + -ecP.] Set 
with briers. Chatterton. 
brier), + rooi 2 .] The root of the white heath, 
Erica arborea, a shrub often growing to a large 
size. The roots are gathered extensively in the south 
of France and in Corsica for the purpose of being made 
into tobacco-pipes, commonly called brier-wood pipes. The brigandage (brig'an-daj), n. [< F. brigandage, 
^^y"S^^i ll ^ 0t \M^'^y^ow^^& < brigand + -age.} The life and practices of 
with a circular saw. The blocks are then placed in a vat a brigand ; highway robbery by organized 
and subjected to a gentle simmering for a space of twelve gangs; figuratively, organized spoliation: as, 
hours, during which they acquire the rich yellowish-brown hriaandaae in the legislature or on the bench, 
hue for which the best pipes are noted, and are then in a 
The rule of the Turk has never become a government; 
it has never discharged the duties of government ; it was 
foreign brigandage five hundred years back, and it re- 
condition for turning. 
brier-wood (bri'er-wud), n. The wood of the 
brier-root, used for making tobacco-pipes. 
briery 1 (bri'er-i), a. [< brier + -fl.J Full of 
briers; rough; thorny. Also briary. 
The thorny brake and briery wood. 
Fawkes, Death of Adonis. 
A nightingale sang in the briery thickets by the brook- 
side. B. Taylor, Lands of the Saracen, p. 55. 
mains foreign brigandage still. 
E. A. Freeman, Amer. Lects., p. 419. 
Many of the peasants in 
their distress had taken 
to poaching or brigandage 
in the forests. 
C. U. Pearson, Early and 
. - v , 
ments emanating from the pope, having a less brierySf (bri 'er-i), n. [For 'bnerery,< brier 
solemn character than a bull. + ~ er y- cf fernery, pinery, etc.] A place 
The Bull being the highest Authority the Pope can give, 
the Brief is of less. Selden, Table-Talk, p. 86. 
6. [Also spelled breif, breef, < OF. bref, brief, 
a spell, talisman, < ML. breve, in pi. brevia, a 
writing containing magical characters carried 
as an amulet or talisman : a particular use of 
L. breve, a writing, as above.] A spell. Burns. 
[Scotch.] =Syn.l. Abridgment, Compendium, Compend, 
etc. See abridgment. 
brief (bref), v. t. [< brief, n. In earlier form 
breve, q. v.] 1 . To abridge ; shorten ; make 
a brief of: as, to brief pleadings. 
brigander, n. 
[xxvi. 
Same 
(brev), TO. [A Sc. ..... 
In Scots law, a writ issuing from Chancery, di- 
rected to any judge ordinary, ordering trial to 
be made by a jury of certain points stated in 
the brieve. Now used chiefly in the election of tutors 
to minors, the cognoscing of lunatics or idiots, and the 
ascertaining of widows' tierce. 
brig 1 (brig), n. [= bridge^, q. v.] 1. Abridge. 
[Scotch.] 
Now, do thy speedy utmost, Meg, 
And win the key-stane o' the brig. 
Burns, Tarn o' Shanter. 
an-din), n. and a. 
[Also brigantine, bri- 
gander, brigandier 
(obs.) (ME. 'brigan- 
te/fe Gower);<OF. 
brigandine (ML. bri- 
gandina, brigantina), 
< brigand, a foot-sol- 
dier: see brigand.] 
I. n. 1. A medieval 
Brigandine From Mus^e d'Artil- 
lerie, Paris. (From ViolleMe-Dur's 
" Diet, du Mobilier frani;ais.") 
