In music, a double whole note (American), breve (international), or double note is a note lasting two times as long as a whole note (or semibreve). In medieval mensural notation, the brevis (ancestor of the modern breve) was one of the shortest note lengths—hence its name, which is the Latin etymon of "" . In "perfect" rhythmic mode, the brevis was a third of a longa, or in "imperfect" mode half a longa (for full details of the complications here, see for example ). However, in modern music notation it is the longest note value still in common use .