brief

Brief comes from Middle English breef or bref, from Old French brief/bref, from Latin brevis, meaning 'short,' which traces back to Proto-Indo-European *mréǵʰus, 'short, brief.'

The word has kept a remarkably stable meaning across all these languages — short, condensed, over quickly — from its earliest reconstructed PIE form right through to modern English.

Brief is a doublet of breve and merry, meaning all three descend from the same root through different paths.