Severely

How to spell severely

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce severely

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does severely mean?

1. adverbTo a great, harsh, or serious degree; very intensely.

Severely in a sentence

• The storm severely damaged the roof of the old barn.

• Budget cuts severely limited what the department could achieve.

Where does severely come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word descends from the Latin severus, an adjective meaning 'serious, grave, strict, or stern', which described a person of austere and unbending temperament. Latin severus passed into Old French as severe and reached English in the late 1400s, keeping the sense of harshness and stringency. The adverb form was built in English by adding the native suffix -ly, which simply turns an adjective into a manner adverb. The spelling trap sits in the middle and end: writers want to drop the silent 'e' before -ly or to double a letter, but the rule is plain, the base 'severe' keeps its final 'e' and 'ly' is added cleanly to give 'severely'. The same severus root also gives us the word 'persevere', literally 'to remain strict through difficulty'.

How the word is built

• severe (from Latin severus: serious, strict)
• -ly (adverb suffix)