brevis

Brevis is a Latin adjective meaning "short" or "brief." As a term it appears in several fields to indicate a shorter form, duration, or length. In anatomy, brevis is used in the names of several muscles to denote a comparatively short variant, such as extensor digitorum brevis, abductor pollicis brevis, flexor digitorum brevis, and adductor pollicis brevis. In biology and taxonomy, brevis is a common Latin epithet in species names to signal small size or shortened features.

In music history, brevis is a note value used in medieval and renaissance mensural notation. It denotes a duration shorter than a longa, and in later usage the term evolved into the breve, the double whole note; today brevis survives mainly in historical discussions.

In linguistics and philology, brevis is used to refer to length, particularly vowel length or syllable quantity. In scansion and Latin grammar, a brevis (short) syllable or vowel contrasts with longa (long).

Other uses include general adjectival use in scientific names and descriptions, and as a Latin root in compound terms across disciplines.