Brevet

Brevet, ^* In France, a brevet is a warrant granted by the government to authorize an individual to do something for his own benefit, as a brevet d'invention, is a patent to secure a man a right as inventor.

2. In our army, it signifies a commission conferring on an officer a degree of rank immediately above the one which he holds in his particular regiment, without, however conveying a right to receive a corresponding pay.

^* From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, 1856 Edition. Please see Bouvier's Legal Abbreviations & Abbreviated References for help with obscure nomenclature & references.