brifka
English
Etymology
Yiddish בריווקע (brivke, “little letter”), a diminutive of Yiddish בריוו (briv), meaning a (postal) letter. Brifka is thus a "little letter". In turn derived from Old High German briaf, which is borrowed from Latin breve, a neuter form of Latin brevis (“short”). Cognates include Middle Dutch, Middle High German brief, and Dutch brief, Old Norse bréf, Old Saxon brēf (all of them borrowed from Latin)[1][2] and English brief.
Noun
brifka (countable and uncountable, plural brifkas)
- a small folding envelope used for keeping diamonds or other gemstones in
- 2014, Echo Freer, Diamond Geezers:
- With a pair of tweezers, he removed a dazzling rose-coloured crystal from the brifka
- by extension a gem envelope including its contents
References
- ^ Friedrich Kluge (1989) “Brief”, in Elmar Seebold, editor, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache [Etymological Dictionary of the German Language] (in German), 22nd edition, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN
- ^ brief; in: J. de Vries & F. de Tollenaere, "Etymologisch Woordenboek", Uitgeverij Het Spectrum, Utrecht, 1986 (14de druk)
Kashubian
Alternative forms
- brifkôcz
Etymology
Borrowed from German Briefträger + -ka.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈbrif.ka/
- Rhymes: -ifka
- Syllabification: brif‧ka
Noun
brifka f
- postman
- Synonyms: lëstowi, lëstownik
Further reading
- Jan Trepczyk (1994) “listonosz”, in Słownik polsko-kaszubski (in Kashubian), volumes 1–2
- Eùgeniusz Gòłąbk (2011) “listonosz”, in Słownik Polsko-Kaszubski / Słowôrz Pòlskò-Kaszëbsczi[1]
- “brifka”, in Internetowi Słowôrz Kaszëbsczégò Jãzëka [Internet Dictionary of the Kashubian Language], Fundacja Kaszuby, 2022