Standard Lemma guide

briefcase

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: /ˈbɹiːfˌkeɪs/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: B R IY1 F K EY2 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A case used for carrying documents, especially for business.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

In Microsoft Windows, a folder that supports file synchronization between itself and another folder.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a case with a handle; for carrying papers or files or books

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: case

Narrower terms: attache case, attache

History

Etymology

From brief + case.

Across languages

Translations

95 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: aktetas — case used for carrying documents
  • Albanian: çantë — case used for carrying documents
  • Albanian: valixhe — case used for carrying documents
  • Arabic: حَقِيبَة (ḥaqība) — case used for carrying documents
  • Arabic: مِحْفَظَة (miḥfaẓa) — case used for carrying documents
  • Arabic: شَنْطَة (šanṭa) — case used for carrying documents
  • Azerbaijani: portfel — case used for carrying documents
  • Basque: maleta — case used for carrying documents
  • Belarusian: партфэ́ль (partfélʹ) — case used for carrying documents
  • Belarusian: дыплама́т (dyplamát) — case used for carrying documents
  • Belarusian: кейс (kjejs) — case used for carrying documents
  • Belarusian: па́пка (pápka) — case used for carrying documents
  • Belarusian: тэ́чка (téčka) — case used for carrying documents
  • Bengali: ব্রিফকেস (briphokes) — case used for carrying documents
  • Bulgarian: ку́фарче (kúfarče) — case used for carrying documents
  • Bulgarian: ча́нта (čánta) — case used for carrying documents
  • Catalan: cartera — case used for carrying documents
  • Chinese Mandarin: 公文包 (gōngwénbāo) — case used for carrying documents
  • Chinese Mandarin: 皮包 (píbāo) — case used for carrying documents
  • Czech: kufřík — case used for carrying documents
  • Czech: aktovka — case used for carrying documents
  • Czech: diplomatka — case used for carrying documents
  • Danish: portefølje — case used for carrying documents
  • Dutch: aktetas — case used for carrying documents
  • Esperanto: aktujo — case used for carrying documents
  • Esperanto: teko — case used for carrying documents
  • Estonian: portfell — case used for carrying documents
  • Faroese: skjalamappa — case used for carrying documents
  • Finnish: salkku — case used for carrying documents
  • Finnish: asiakirjasalkku — case used for carrying documents
  • French: portefeuille — case used for carrying documents
  • French: serviette — case used for carrying documents
  • French: porte-documents — case used for carrying documents
  • North Frisian: Aktentask — case used for carrying documents
  • Galician: carteira — case used for carrying documents
  • Galician: maletín — case used for carrying documents
  • German: Aktentasche — case used for carrying documents
  • German: (attaché case also) Aktenkoffer — case used for carrying documents
  • Greek: χαρτοφύλακας (chartofýlakas) — case used for carrying documents
  • Hebrew: מזוודה (mizvadá) — case used for carrying documents
  • Hindi: ब्रीफ़केस (brīfkes) — case used for carrying documents
  • Hindi: अटैची (aṭaicī) — case used for carrying documents
  • Hindi: अटेची (aṭecī) — case used for carrying documents
  • Hungarian: aktatáska — case used for carrying documents
  • Icelandic: skjalataska — case used for carrying documents
  • Italian: valigetta — case used for carrying documents
  • Japanese: 鞄 (kaban) — case used for carrying documents
  • Japanese: ブリーフケース (burīfukēsu) — case used for carrying documents
  • Kazakh: портфель (portfel) — case used for carrying documents
  • Korean: 서류 가방 (seoryu gabang) — case used for carrying documents
  • Korean: 가방 (gabang) — case used for carrying documents
  • Kyrgyz: портфель (portfel) — case used for carrying documents
  • Latin: scrīnium — case used for carrying documents
  • Latvian: portfelis — case used for carrying documents
  • Lithuanian: portfelis — case used for carrying documents
  • Luxembourgish: Mapp — case used for carrying documents
  • Macedonian: актовка (aktovka) — case used for carrying documents
  • Macedonian: чанта (čanta) — case used for carrying documents
  • Macedonian: ташна (tašna) — case used for carrying documents
  • Manx: kishtey laue — case used for carrying documents
  • Māori: kopamārō — case used for carrying documents
  • Norwegian Bokmål: dokumentmappe — case used for carrying documents
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: dokumentmappe — case used for carrying documents
  • Polish: teczka — case used for carrying documents
  • Polish: aktówka — case used for carrying documents
  • Portuguese: pasta — case used for carrying documents
  • Portuguese: maleta — case used for carrying documents
  • Romanian: geantă — case used for carrying documents
  • Romanian: servietă — case used for carrying documents
  • Russian: портфе́ль (portfélʹ) — case used for carrying documents
  • Russian: диплома́т (diplomát) — case used for carrying documents
  • Russian: кейс (kejs) — case used for carrying documents
  • Russian: па́пка (pápka) — case used for carrying documents
  • Scottish Gaelic: màileid — case used for carrying documents
  • Serbo-Croatian: а̏кто̄вка — case used for carrying documents
  • Serbo-Croatian: ȁktōvka — case used for carrying documents
  • Slovak: kufrík — case used for carrying documents
  • Slovak: aktovka — case used for carrying documents
  • Slovak: diplomatka — case used for carrying documents
  • Slovene: aktovka — case used for carrying documents
  • Spanish: maletín — case used for carrying documents
  • Swedish: portfölj — case used for carrying documents
  • Tajik: портфель (portfel) — case used for carrying documents
  • Tajik: киф (kif) — case used for carrying documents
  • Tibetan: ལག་འབེག — case used for carrying documents
  • Turkish: evrak çantası — case used for carrying documents
  • Turkmen: portfel — case used for carrying documents
  • Ukrainian: портфе́ль (portfélʹ) — case used for carrying documents
  • Ukrainian: диплома́т (dyplomát) — case used for carrying documents
  • Ukrainian: кейс (kejs) — case used for carrying documents
  • Ukrainian: па́пка (pápka) — case used for carrying documents
  • Ukrainian: те́чка (téčka) — case used for carrying documents
  • Urdu: بریفکیس (brīfkes) — case used for carrying documents
  • Urdu: اٹیچی (aṭaicī) — case used for carrying documents
  • Uzbek: portfel — case used for carrying documents
Real reading context

briefcase in complete knowledge articles