The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Brief \Brief\, adv.
   1. Briefly. [Obs. or Poetic]
      [1913 Webster]

            Adam, faltering long, thus answered brief. --Milton.
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   2. Soon; quickly. [Obs.] --Shak.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Brief \Brief\ (br[=e]f), a. [OE. bref, F. brief, bref, fr. L.
   brevis; akin to Gr. brachy`s short, and perh. to Skr. barh to
   tear. Cf. Breve.]
   1. Short in duration.
      [1913 Webster]

            How brief the life of man.            --Shak.
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   2. Concise; terse; succinct.
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            The brief style is that which expresseth much in
            little.                               --B. Jonson.
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   3. Rife; common; prevalent. [Prov. Eng.]
      [1913 Webster]

   In brief. See under Brief, n.
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   Syn: Short; concise; succinct; summary; compendious;
        condensed; terse; curt; transitory; short-lived.
        [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Brief \Brief\ (br[=e]f), n. [See Brief, a., and cf. Breve.]
   1. A short concise writing or letter; a statement in few
      words.
      [1913 Webster]

            Bear this sealed brief,
            With winged hastle, to the lord marshal. --Shak.
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            And she told me
            In a sweet, verbal brief.             --Shak.
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   2. An epitome.
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            Each woman is a brief of womankind.   --Overbury.
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   3. (Law) An abridgment or concise statement of a client's
      case, made out for the instruction of counsel in a trial
      at law. This word is applied also to a statement of the
      heads or points of a law argument.
      [1913 Webster]

            It was not without some reference to it that I
            perused many a brief.                 --Sir J.
                                                  Stephen.
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   Note: In England, the brief is prepared by the attorney; in
         the United States, counsel generally make up their own
         briefs.
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   4. (Law) A writ; a breve. See Breve, n., 2.
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   5. (Scots Law) A writ issuing from the chancery, directed to
      any judge ordinary, commanding and authorizing that judge
      to call a jury to inquire into the case, and upon their
      verdict to pronounce sentence.
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   6. A letter patent, from proper authority, authorizing a
      collection or charitable contribution of money in
      churches, for any public or private purpose. [Eng.]
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   7. pl. a type of men's underpants without legs, fitting
      tightly and held by an elastic waistband; also called
      Jockey shorts.
      [PJC]

   Apostolical brief, a letter of the pope written on fine
      parchment in modern characters, subscribed by the
      secretary of briefs, dated "a die Nativitatis," i. e.,
      "from the day of the Nativity," and sealed with the ring
      of the fisherman. It differs from a bull, in its
      parchment, written character, date, and seal. See Bull.


   Brief of title, an abstract or abridgment of all the deeds
      and other papers constituting the chain of title to any
      real estate.

   In brief, in a few words; in short; briefly. "Open the
      matter in brief." --Shak.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Brief \Brief\, v. t.
   To make an abstract or abridgment of; to shorten; as, to
   brief pleadings.
   [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

brief
    adj 1: of short duration or distance; "a brief stay in the
           country"
    2: concise and succinct; "covered the matter in a brief
       statement"
    3: (of clothing) very short; "an abbreviated swimsuit"; "a brief
       bikini" [syn: abbreviated, brief]
    n 1: a document stating the facts and points of law of a
         client's case [syn: brief, legal brief]
    2: a condensed written summary or abstract
    v 1: give essential information to someone; "The reporters were
         briefed about the President's plan to invade"

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

227 Moby Thesaurus words for "brief":
   Spartan, abbreviated, abbreviation, abbreviature, abrege, abridge,
   abridged, abridgment, abrupt, abstract, account, account rendered,
   accounting, acquaint, acta, advertise, advertise of, advise,
   advocate, airmanship, annual, aposiopestic, apprise, bespeak,
   block in, block out, blunt, book, breviary, briefing, briefly,
   bring word, brisk, brusque, bulletin, capsule, capsulize,
   census report, chalk out, clipped, close, close-tongued,
   closemouthed, coach, cometary, communicate, compact, compend,
   compendious, compendium, compressed, concise, concisely,
   condensation, condense, condensed, condensed version, confer,
   conspectus, consult with, contracted, counsel, crisp, crusty, curt,
   curtailed, curtal, curtate, cut, debrief, decurtate, delineate,
   digest, direct, disclose, docked, draft, dumb, economical of words,
   election returns, elliptic, employ, engage, enlighten, ephemeral,
   epigrammatic, epitome, evanescent, explain, extract, familiarize,
   fill in, flashing, fleet, fleeting, flickering, flight plan,
   flying lessons, fugitive, give a briefing, give directions,
   give notice, give the facts, give word, gnomic, gruff, guide, head,
   hire, in brief, in sum, in summary, indisposed to talk, inform,
   instantaneous, instruct, kibitz, laconic, leave word, let know,
   line, little, low, meddle, mention to, meteoric, minutes,
   momentary, mum, mute, notify, nutshell, outline, overview, pandect,
   passing, pilot training, pilotship, pithy, pointed, precis,
   preengage, prescribe, proceedings, propose, pruned, quick, quiet,
   recommend, recruit, report, reserve, reserved, resume, retain,
   returns, review, rough, rough in, rough out, rubric, run down,
   run through, rundown, send word, sententious, serve notice, short,
   short and sweet, short-lived, short-term, short-termed, shorten,
   shortened, shortened version, sign on, sign up, sign up for,
   silent, skeleton, sketch, sketch out, snug, sparing of words,
   speak, speechless, speedy, statement, submit, succinct, succinctly,
   suggest, summarize, summary, survey, swift, syllabus, synopsis,
   synopsize, synopsized, synoptic, taciturn, take into employment,
   take on, tally, tell, temporary, terse, the record,
   thumbnail sketch, tight, tight-lipped, to the point, tongue-tied,
   topical outline, trace, transactions, transient, transitory,
   truncated, unloquacious, untalkative, verse, washout, word-bound,
   wordless, yearbook



V.E.R.A. -- Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms (February 2016):

BRIEF
       Basic Reconfigurable Interactive Editing Facility


Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

BRIEF, eccl. law. The name of a kind of papal rescript. Briefs are writings
sealed with wax, and differ in this respect from bulls, (q. v.) which are
scaled with lead. They are so called, because they usually are short
compendious writings. Ayl. Parerg. 132. See Breve.



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

BRIEF, practice. An abridged statement of a party's case.
     2. It should contain : 1st. A statement of the names of the parties,
and of their residence and occupation, the character in which they sue and
are sued, and wherefore they prosecute or resist the action. 2d. An
abridgment of all the pleadings. 3d. A regular, chronological, and
methodical statement of the facts in plain common language. 4th. A summary
of the points or questions in issue, and of the proof which is to support
such issues, mentioning specially the names of the witnesses by which the
facts are to be proved, or if there be written evidence, an abstract of such
evidence. 5th. The personal character of the witnesses should be mentioned;
whether the moral character is good or bad, whether they are naturally timid
or over-zealous, whether firm or wavering. 6th. If known, the evidence of
the opposite party, and such facts as are adapted to oppose, confute, or
repel it. Perspicuity and conciseness are the most desirable qualities of a
brief, but when the facts are material they cannot be too numerous when the
argument is pertinent and weighty, it cannot be too extended.
     3. Brief is also used in the sense of breve. (q. v.)