Brief

See also: brief

German

Etymology

From Middle High German brief, from Old High German briaf, which is borrowed from Latin breve, a neuter form of brevis (“short”). Cognates include Middle Dutch brief, Dutch brief, Old Norse bréf, Old Saxon brēf (all of them borrowed from Latin) and English brief.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbʁiːf/

• Audio (Germany):

  (file)

• Audio (Austria):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːf

Noun

Brief m (strong, genitive Briefes or Briefs, plural Briefe, diminutive Briefchen n)

1. letter (written message)

Declension

Declension of Brief [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Brief	die	Briefe
genitive	eines	des	Briefes, Briefs	der	Briefe
dative	einem	dem	Brief, Briefe1	den	Briefen
accusative	einen	den	Brief	die	Briefe

¹Now rare, see notes.

Hyponyms

• Abschiedsbrief m
• Blauer Brief
• Brandbrief
• Eilbrief
• Liebesbrief
• Luftbrief
• offener Brief
• Pfandbrief
• Rückscheinbrief
• Rundbrief
• Schnellbrief
• Schuldbrief
• Trauerbrief

 

Derived terms

• Briefbeschwerer m
• Briefkopf m
• brieflich
• Briefmarke
• Brieftasche
• Briefträger
• Briefumschlag
• Pfarrbrief

 

References

• Brief on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^de

Further reading

• “Brief” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Brief” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “Brief” in Duden online
• Brief on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^de
• Friedrich Kluge (1883) “Brief”, in John Francis Davis, transl., Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, published 1891

Hunsrik

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /priːf/

Noun

Brief m (plural Brief, diminutive Briefche)

1. letter (written message)

   Sie hod en Brief fun eere Schwesder kried.

   She received a letter from her sister.

Derived terms

• Briefkaste
• Brieftasch

 

Further reading

• Piter Kehoma Boll (2021) “Brief”, in Dicionário Hunsriqueano Riograndense–Português (in Portuguese), 3rd edition, Ivoti: Riograndenser Hunsrickisch, page 28

Pennsylvania German

Etymology

Compare German Brief, Dutch brief, English brief.

Noun

Brief m (plural Brief)

1. letter (written message)
2. package