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Brief vs Minute - What's the difference?

brief | minute |

In obsolete terms the difference between brief and minute

is that brief is a summary, précis or epitome; an abridgement or abstract while minute is a very small part of anything, or anything very small; a jot; a whit.

In transitive terms the difference between brief and minute

is that brief is to summarize a recent development to some person with decision-making power while minute is of an event, to write in a memo or the minutes of a meeting.

As an adverb brief

is briefly.

brief

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Of short duration; happening quickly.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • How brief the life of man.
  • *, chapter=10
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=It was a joy to snatch some brief respite, and find himself in the rectory drawing–room. Listening here was as pleasant as talking; just to watch was pleasant. The young priests who lived here wore cassocks and birettas; their faces were fine and mild, yet really strong, like the rector's face; and in their intercourse with him and his wife they seemed to be brothers.}}
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012, date=November 7, author=Matt Bai, title=Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds, work=New York Times citation
  • , passage=That brief moment after the election four years ago, when many Americans thought Mr. Obama’s election would presage a new, less fractious political era, now seems very much a thing of the past. }}
  • Concise; taking few words.
  • * (Ben Johnson) (1572-1637)
  • The brief style is that which expresseth much in little.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers), title=(A Cuckoo in the Nest)
  • , chapter=1 citation , passage=She was like a Beardsley Salome , he had said. And indeed she had the narrow eyes and the high cheekbone of that creature, and as nearly the sinuosity as is compatible with human symmetry. His wooing had been brief but incisive.}}
  • Occupying a small distance, area or spatial extent; short.
  • * 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.
  • (obsolete) Rife; common; prevalent.
  • Synonyms

    * See also * See also

    Derived terms

    * briefly

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (legal) A writ summoning one to answer to any action.
  • (legal) An answer to any action.
  • * 1996 The Japanese Rule of Civil Procedure, Article 79 (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.
  • (legal) A memorandum of points of fact or of law for use in conducting a case.
  • (legal) An attorney's legal argument in written form for submission to a court.
  • (English law) The material relevant to a case, delivered by a solicitor to the barrister who tries the case.
  • (informal) A short news story or report.
  • * We got a news brief .
  • * Shakespeare
  • Bear this sealed brief , / With winged haste, to the lord marshal.
  • (obsolete) A summary, or epitome; an abridgement or abstract.
  • * 1589 Thomas Nashe, The Anatomie of Absurditie 5:
  • A survey of their follie, a briefe of their barbarisme.
  • * Overbury
  • Each woman is a brief of womankind.
  • (UK, historical) A letter patent, from proper authority, authorizing a collection or charitable contribution of money in churches, for any public or private purpose.
  • Derived terms

    * briefs * control brief

    References

    *

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To summarize a recent development to some person with decision-making power.
  • The U.S. president was briefed on the military coup and its implications on African stability.
  • (legal) To write a legal argument and submit it to a court.
  • Derived terms

    * briefing * brevity

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • (obsolete, poetic) Briefly.
  • * Milton
  • Adam, faltering long, thus answered brief .
  • (obsolete, poetic) Soon; quickly.
  • (Shakespeare)

    Anagrams

    * ----

    minute

    English

    (wikipedia minute)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) minute, from

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A unit of time equal to sixty seconds (one-sixtieth of an hour).
  • You have twenty minutes to complete the test.
  • A short but unspecified time period.
  • Wait a minute , I’m not ready yet!
  • A unit of angle equal to one-sixtieth of a degree.
  • We need to be sure these maps are accurate to within one minute of arc.
  • (in the plural, minutes) A (usually formal) written record of a meeting.
  • Let’s look at the minutes of last week’s meeting.
  • A minute of use of a telephone or other network, especially a cell phone network.
  • If you buy this phone, you’ll get 100 free minutes .
  • A point in time; a moment.
  • * Dryden
  • I go this minute to attend the king.
  • A nautical or a geographic mile.
  • An old coin, a half farthing.
  • (obsolete) A very small part of anything, or anything very small; a jot; a whit.
  • * Jeremy Taylor
  • minutes and circumstances of his passion
  • (architecture) A fixed part of a module.
  • Derived terms
    * minute bell * minute book * minute glass * minute gun
    Synonyms
    * instant, jiffy, mo, moment, sec, second, tic * (unit of angular measure) minute of arc

    Verb

    (minut)
  • Of an event, to write in a memo or the minutes of a meeting.
  • I’ll minute this evening’s meeting.
  • * Charles Dickens
  • I dare say there was a vast amount of minuting , memoranduming, and dispatch-boxing, on this mighty subject.
  • * 1995, Edmund Dell, The Schuman Plan and the British Abdication of Leadership in Europe [http://print.google.com/print?hl=en&id=us6DpQrcaVEC&pg=PA74&lpg=PA74&sig=8WYGZFKFxIhE4WPCpVkzDvHpO1A]
  • On 17 November 1949 Jay minuted Cripps, arguing that trade liberalization on inessentials was socially regressive.
  • * 1996, Peter Hinchliffe, The Other Battle [http://print.google.com/print?hl=en&id=vxBK8kHLTyIC&pg=PA78&lpg=PA78&sig=lXg1Kvn_f1KsmB4gdOv51h5nu8I]
  • The Commander-in-Chief of Bomber Command, Sir Richard Peirse, was sceptical of its findings, minuting, ‘I don’t think at this rate we could have hoped to produce the damage which is known to have been achieved.’
  • * 2003, David Roberts, Four Against the Arctic [http://print.google.com/print?hl=en&id=yPsgKV7zo_kC&pg=PA18&lpg=PA18&sig=WNGXG6bM-ja8NDueqgtdNrCkslM]
  • Mr. Klingstadt, chief Auditor of the Admiralty of that city, sent for and examined them very particularly concerning the events which had befallen them; minuting down their answers in writing, with an intention of publishing himself an account of their extraordinary adventures.
  • To set down a short sketch or note of; to jot down; to make a minute or a brief summary of.
  • * Bancroft
  • The Empress of Russia, with her own hand, minuted an edict for universal tolerance.

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) .

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Very small.
  • Very careful and exact, giving small details.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author=[http://www.americanscientist.org/authors/detail/fenella-saunders Fenella Saunders], magazine=(American Scientist)
  • , title=[http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/pub/2013/4/tiny-lenses-see-the-big-picture Tiny Lenses See the Big Picture] , passage=The single-imaging optic of the mammalian eye offers some distinct visual advantages. Such lenses can take in photons from a wide range of angles, increasing light sensitivity. They also have high spatial resolution, resolving incoming images in minute detail.}}
    Synonyms
    * (small) * infinitesimal, insignificant, minuscule, tiny, trace * See also * (exact) * exact, exacting, excruciating, precise, scrupulous * See also
    Antonyms
    * big, enormous, colossal, huge, significant, tremendous, vast