brifka

The story

1. Latin · derived frombreve
2. Old High German · derived frombriaf
3. Yiddish · borrowed fromבריוו
4. Yiddish · borrowed fromבריווקע“little letter”
5. English todaybrifka

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) and English brief.