different between brief vs errant

English

Etymology

From Middle English breef, breve, bref, from Old French brief, bref, from Latin brevis (“short”), from Proto-Indo-European *mré??us (“short, brief”). Doublet of merry.

Pronunciation

• enPR: br?f, IPA^(key): /b?i?f/
• Rhymes: -i?f

Adjective

brief (comparative briefer, superlative briefest)

1. Of short duration; happening quickly. [from 15th c.]
2. Concise; taking few words. [from 15th c.]
3. Occupying a small distance, area or spatial extent; short. [from 17th c.]
   • 1983, Robert Drewe, The Bodysurfers, Penguin 2009, p. 17:

     On the beach he always wore a straw hat with a red band and a brief pair of leopard print trunks.

4. (obsolete) Rife; common; prevalent.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:ephemeral
• See also Thesaurus:concise

Derived terms

• briefen
• briefly

Related terms

• brevity

Translations

Noun

brief (plural briefs)

1. (law) A writ summoning one to answer; an official letter or mandate.
2. (law) An answer to any action.
   • 1996, Japanese Rules of Civil Procedure^[4], Article 79, Section 1:

     A written answer or any other brief shall be submitted to the court while allowing a period necessary for the opponent to make preparations with regard to the matters stated therein.

3. (law) A memorandum of points of fact or of law for use in conducting a case.
4. (by extension, figuratively) A position of interest or advocacy.
5. (law) An attorney's legal argument in written form for submission to a court.
6. (English law) The material relevant to a case, delivered by a solicitor to the barrister who tries the case.
7. A short news story or report.
8. (usually in the plural) underwear briefs.

9. (obsolete) A summary, précis or epitome; an abridgement or abstract.
   • 1589, Thomas Nashe, The Anatomie of Absurditie^[5]:

     […] euen ?o it fareth with mee, who béeing about to anatomize Ab?urditie, am vrged to take a view of ?undry mens vanitie, a ?uruey of their follie, a briefe of their barbari?me […]
10. (Britain, historical) A letter patent, from proper authority, authorizing a collection or charitable contribution of money in churches, for any public or private purpose.
11. (slang) A ticket of any type.

Derived terms

• briefs
• control brief

Translations

References

• John A. Simpson and Edward S. C. Weiner, editors (1989) , “brief”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, ?ISBN

Verb

brief (third-person singular simple present briefs, present participle briefing, simple past and past participle briefed)

1. (transitive) To summarize a recent development to some person with decision-making power.

2. (transitive, law) To write a legal argument and submit it to a court.

Derived terms

• debrief

Translations

Adverb

brief (comparative more brief, superlative most brief)

1. (obsolete, poetic) Briefly.
2. (obsolete, poetic) Soon; quickly.

Related terms

• briefing
• brevity

References

Further reading

• brief in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• brief in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• brief at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• FBIer, fiber, fibre

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch brief, from Middle Dutch brief, from Old Dutch [Term?], from Latin brevis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /brif/

Noun

brief (plural briewe)

1. letter (written message)

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch brief, from Old Dutch [Term?], borrowed from Latin brevis (“short”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /brif/
• Hyphenation: brief
• Rhymes: -if

Noun

brief m (plural brieven, diminutive briefje n)

1. letter (written message)

Derived terms

Descendants

• Afrikaans: brief
• ? Sranan Tongo: brifi

References

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French brief.

Adjective

brief m (feminine singular briefve, masculine plural briefs, feminine plural briefves)

1. brief; short

Descendants

• French: bref

Old French

Alternative forms

• bref

Etymology

From Latin brevis.

Adjective

brief m (oblique and nominative feminine singular brieve)

1. brief, short in length

Declension

Derived terms

• briement

Noun

brief m (oblique plural briés, nominative singular briés, nominative plural brief)

1. (short) letter or statement

Descendants

• Middle French: brief
  • French: bref
• ? Middle English: bref, breef, breve, brefe, breefe
  • English: brief, breve
  • Scots: brief, brieve, breef, briefe

English

Alternative forms

• erraunt (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English erraunt, from Anglo-Norman erraunt, from Old French errant, from Latin errans (“wandering”). Doublet of arrant.

Pronunciation

• (US, UK) IPA^(key): /????nt/
• Homophone: arrant (in accents with the Mary–marry–merry merger)

Adjective

errant (comparative more errant, superlative most errant)

1. Straying from the proper course or standard, or outside established limits.
2. Wandering; roving around.
3. Prone to making errors; misbehaved.

   We ran down the street in pursuit of the errant dog.

4. (proscribed) Utter, complete (negative); arrant.

Usage notes

Sometimes arrant (“utter, complete”) is considered simply an alternative spelling and pronunciation of errant, though most authorities distinguish them, reserving errant to mean “wandering” and using it after the noun it modifies, notably in “knight errant”, while using arrant to mean “utter”, in a negative sense, and before the noun it modifies, notably in “arrant knaves”.

Etymologically, arrant arose as a variant of errant, but the meanings have long since diverged. Both terms are primarily used in set phrases (which may be considered cliché) and, since they are easily confused, some authorities suggest against using either.

Synonyms

• (utter, complete): arrant (generally distinguished; see usage)

Derived terms

• knight-errant
• arrant

Translations

Noun

errant (plural errants)

1. A knight-errant.

References

• “errant”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, ?ISBN
• Paul Brians (May 17, 2016) , “arrant/errant”, in Common Errors in English Usage?^[3]
• William Safire (January 22, 2006) , “On Language: Arrant Nonsense”, in New York Times?^[4]
• “errant, arrant”, in Merriam–Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage?^[5], 1995, page 406

Anagrams

• Ranter, Ratner, Terran, ranter, terran

French

Etymology

From Old French errant, from Latin err?ns, err?ntem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /e.???/

Verb

errant

1. present participle of errer

Adjective

errant (feminine singular errante, masculine plural errants, feminine plural errantes)

1. wandering, stray
2. errant (clarification of this definition is needed)

Further reading

• “errant” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• rentra

Latin

Verb

errant

1. third-person plural present active indicative of err?

Old French

Etymology

Present participle of errer (“to wander”), from Latin iter? (“I travel; I voyage”) rather than from err?, which is the ancestor of the other etymology of error (“to err; to make an error”).

Adjective

errant m (oblique and nominative feminine singular errant or errante)

1. wandering; nomadic

Descendants

• English: errant
• French: errant