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Brief vs Sum - What's the difference?

brief | sum |

As nouns the difference between brief and sum

is that brief is letter (written message) while sum is noise (sound or signal generated by random fluctuations).

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

    * ----

    sum

    English

    (wikipedia sum)

    Etymology 1

    (etyl) summe, from (etyl), from (etyl) summa, feminine of .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A quantity obtained by addition or aggregation.
  • The sum of 3 and 4 is 7.
  • * Bible, Numbers i. 2
  • Take ye the sum of all the congregation.
  • (often plural) An arithmetic computation, especially one posed to a student as an exercise (not necessarily limited to addition).
  • We're learning about division, and the sums are tricky.
  • * Charles Dickens
  • a large sheet of paper covered with long sums
  • A quantity of money.
  • a tidy sum
    the sum of forty pounds
  • * Bible, Acts xxii. 28
  • With a great sum obtained I this freedom.
  • A summary; the principal points or thoughts when viewed together; the amount; the substance; compendium.
  • This is the sum of all the evidence in the case.
    This is the sum and substance of his objections.
  • A central idea or point.
  • The utmost degree.
  • * Milton
  • Thus have I told thee all my state, and brought / My story to the sum of earthly bliss.
  • (obsolete) An old English measure of corn equal to the quarter.
  • * 1882 , James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England , Volume 4, page 207:
  • The sum is also used for the quarter, and the strike for the bushel.
    Synonyms
    * (quantity obtained by addition or aggregation) amount, sum total, summation, total, totality * (arithmetic computation) calculation, computation * (quantity of money) amount, quantity of money, sum of money * (summary) See summary * (central idea or point) center/centre, core, essence, gist, heart, heart and soul, inwardness, kernel, marrow, meat, nub, nitty-gritty, pith substance * (utmost degree) See summit * quarter
    Derived terms
    * a tidy sum * checksum * empty sum * nullary sum
    See also
    * addition, summation: (augend) + (addend) = (summand) + (summand) = (sum, total) * subtraction: (minuend) ? (subtrahend) = (difference) * multiplication: (multiplier) × (multiplicand) = (factor) × (factor) = (product) * division: (dividend) ÷ (divisor) = (quotient), remainder left over if divisor does not divide dividend

    Verb

    (summ)
  • To add together.
  • * 2005 , .
  • when you say that stability and change are, it's because you're summing them up together as embraced by it, and taking note of the communion each of them has with being.
  • To give a summary of.
  • Synonyms
    * (to add together) add, add together, add up, sum up, summate, tally, tot, tot up, total, tote up * (to give a summary of) See summarize

    Etymology 2

    From the (etyl) , all of which have the core signification “pure”, used in elliptical reference to historical coins of pure gold.

    Alternative forms

    *

    Noun

  • (en noun)
  • The basic unit of money in Kyrgyzstan.
  • The basic unit of money in Uzbekistan.
  • Anagrams

    * ----