brevity
/ˈbrɛvəti/noun
Shortness or concise expression in speech or writing
From Latin brief (short).
Lineage
The story
Brevity arrived in English around 1509 carrying a very compact Latin package: brevis, “short,” became brevitās, “shortness.” The route is slightly slippery—English may have borrowed it directly from Latin, or through Anglo-Norman and Old French brieveté—so even the history practices what the word preaches. Its close relative brief first meant something of short duration before becoming a short written instruction, while breve preserves the same Latin family in musical notation and other specialized uses. Think of brevity as linguistic compression: a long thought packed into a small verbal suitcase.
Words from the same roots
brief · Latin, ‘short; concise’
Derivedbrief, breve, brevity, abbreviate, abbreviation, breviloquent