A breviograph or brevigraph (from Latin: brevis, short, and Greek grapho, to write) is a type of scribal abbreviation in the form of an easily written symbol, character, flourish or stroke, based on a modified letter form to take the place of a common letter combination, especially those occurring at the beginning or end of a word. Breviographs were used frequently by stenographers, law clerks and scriveners, and they were also found in early printed books and tracts.[1] Their use declined after the 17th century.
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Sources
- Elaine E. Whitaker, "Lacunae and the id est Brevigraph in Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Bodley 283," Manuscripta 36, no. 3 (1992), 191–99.