Sever

How to spell sever

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce sever

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does sever mean?

1. verbTo cut off or divide something completely, or to break off a connection or relationship.

Sever in a sentence

• The surgeon worked quickly to repair the tendon the saw had begun to sever.

• The company decided to sever all ties with the supplier after the scandal.

Where does sever come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word entered English in the late 1300s from Anglo-French severer and Old French sevrer, meaning to part, divide, or wean. Those forms descend from the Latin separare, which meant to pull apart or set aside, built from se- (apart) and parare (to prepare or make ready). So the original sense was very physical: to make two things stand apart. Interestingly, the same Latin separare gave English the more transparent word separate by a different, more learned route, while sever arrived worn down through spoken French. The smoothing of separare into the short, blunt sever is exactly why the spelling looks so plain, and why writers sometimes confuse it with the unrelated adjective severe.

How the word is built

• sever (from Old French sevrer, ultimately Latin separare: to separate)