sever

See also: Sever, sèver, śever, and sěver

English

Etymology

From Middle English severen, from Old French sevrer, from Latin separāre (“to separate”), from se- (“apart”) + parāre (“provide, arrange”). Doublet of separate, from the past participle of that Latin verb.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛv.ɚ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛvə(ɹ)

Verb

sever (third-person singular simple present severs, present participle severing, simple past and past participle severed)

1. (transitive) To cut free.

   After he graduated, he severed all links to his family.

   to sever the head from the body

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 13:49:

     The angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just.

   • 1999, Eminem, Role Model:

     That I just severed the main vein with a chainsaw and I'm in pain?

2. (intransitive) To suffer disjunction; to be parted or separated.
   • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene v]:

     No more can I be seuered from your side

   • 1918, Rudyard Kipling, “A Retired Gentleman”, in The Eyes of Asia, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, →OCLC, page 4:

     How great then was my anguish at being severed from my Regiment after thirty-three years!

3. (intransitive) To make a separation or distinction; to distinguish.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 9:4:

     The Lord shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt.

   • 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XVII, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:

     They claimed the right of severing in their challenges.

5. (law) To disconnect; to disunite; to terminate.
   • 1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, (please specify |book=I to IV), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC:

     sever an estate in joint tenancy

Synonyms

• becut
• cut off

Derived terms

• severable
• severally

Related terms

• separate

Translations

to cut free — see also chop off

Arabic: جَذَبَ (jaḏaba), قَطَعَ (ar) (qaṭaʕa), بَتَّ (batta) Azerbaijani: qırmaq (az) Bulgarian: откъсвам (bg) (otkǎsvam), отрязвам (bg) (otrjazvam) Catalan: tallar (ca), seccionar (ca), separar (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 斷絕 / 断绝 (zh) (duànjué) Dutch: lossnijden (nl), scheiden (nl) Dyirbal: nudin (guwal) Egyptian: (dn) Finnish: katkaista (fi); kitkeä (fi) French: rompre (fr), trancher (fr), sectionner (fr) German: abtrennen (de), durchtrennen (de), abbrechen (de), trennen (de) Hungarian: elvág (hu) Italian: recidere (it), troncare (it), tagliare (it) Japanese: 切断する (ja) (せつだんする, setsudan suru), 断つ (ja) (たつ, tatsu), 断ち切る (ja) (たちきる, tachikiru) Korean: 절단하다 (ko) (jeoldanhada) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: پەڕاندن (perrandin) Latin: praecīdō, dēsecō Latvian: saraut (ties), nogriezt (body part) Maori: momotu, hāparapara Occitan: copar (oc), rompre (oc), talhar (oc) Ottoman Turkish: یارمق (yarmak) Polish: odcinać (pl) impf, odciąć (pl) pf, odrąbywać impf, odrąbać (pl) pf, ucinać (pl) impf, uciąć (pl) pf Portuguese: cortar (pt) Russian: отреза́ть (ru) impf (otrezátʹ), отре́зать (ru) pf (otrézatʹ) (impf. and pf. differ in the word stress only), разрыва́ть (ru) impf (razryvátʹ), разорва́ть (ru) pf (razorvátʹ) (relationship) Spanish: cortar (es), tallar (es) (desus.), tajar (es), truncar (es), separar (es), cercenar (es), escindir (es), esñocar (Puerto Rico), cortar a cercén, cortar cercen Swedish: kapa (sv), klippa av (sv), hugga av (sv) Tamil: அறு (ta) (aṟu) Turkish: ayırmak (tr), kesmek (tr), koparmak (tr) ǃXóõ: gǂqháa

to be parted or separated

Bulgarian: откъсвам се (otkǎsvam se) Finnish: joutua eroon Occitan: èsser separat Tamil: அறு (ta) (aṟu)

to make a separation or distinction

Bulgarian: разделям (bg) (razdeljam) Finnish: erottaa (fi), tehdä ero Occitan: distinguir (oc), diferenciar (oc), separar (oc)

legal: to disunite; to disconnect; to terminate

Bulgarian: разделям (bg) (razdeljam) Finnish: erottaa (fi), eriyttää (fi) (to disunite or disconnect); lopettaa (fi) (to terminate) Italian: separare (it), distaccare (it), rescindere (it) Occitan: separar (oc), desunir (oc)

Further reading

• “sever”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “sever”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “sever”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• 'verse, -verse, reves, serve, veers, verse

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin sevērus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [səˈβer]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) unknown
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [seˈver]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Adjective

sever (feminine severa, masculine plural severs, feminine plural severes)

1. strict, severe

Derived terms

• severament

Related terms

• severitat

Further reading

• “sever”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “sever”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “sever” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “sever” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Czech

Czech Wikipedia has an article on:

sever

Wikipedia ^cs

Etymology

Inherited from Old Czech sěver (“spring”), from Proto-Slavic *sěverъ (“north”). See also German Schauer, English shower (originally, "cold rain").

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈsɛvɛr]

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

sever m inan (relational adjective severní)

1. north

   Antonym: jih

Declension

Declension of sever (hard masculine inanimate)

	singular	plural
nominative	sever	severy
genitive	severu	severů
dative	severu	severům
accusative	sever	severy
vocative	severe	severy
locative	severu	severech
instrumental	severem	severy

Coordinate terms

compass points:  ^[edit]

severozápad	sever	severovýchod
západ		východ
jihozápad	jih	jihovýchod

Derived terms

• severák
• Severka
• severní
• severovýchod
• severozápad
• seveřan

Further reading

• “sever”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “sever”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “sever”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

Interlingua

Adjective

sever (comparative plus sever, superlative le plus sever)

1. severe

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch *sēfar, from Proto-West Germanic *saifr.

Noun

sêver n

1. drool, saliva

Inflection

Strong neuter noun

	singular	plural
nominative	sêver	sêver, sêvere
accusative	sêver	sêver, sêvere
genitive	sêvers	sêvere
dative	sêvere	sêveren

Derived terms

• sêveren

Descendants

• Dutch: zever
• Limburgish: zeiver

Further reading

• Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929), “sever”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN

Old Frisian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈseːfer/, [ˈsɛːfer]
• (Late Old Frisian) IPA^(key): /ˈseːwer/, [ˈsɛːwer]

Noun

sēver m

1. alternative form of sāver

References

• Bremmer, Rolf H. (2009), An Introduction to Old Frisian: History, Grammar, Reader, Glossary, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 28

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French sévère, from Latin severus.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

sever m or n (feminine singular severă, masculine plural severi, feminine/neuter plural severe)

1. strict

Declension

Declension of sever

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	sever		severă		severi	severe
	definite	severul		severa		severii	severele
genitive- dative	indefinite	sever		severe		severi	severe
	definite	severului		severei		severilor	severelor

Related terms

• severitate

Further reading

• “sever”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2025

Serbo-Croatian

Alternative forms

• sjȅver (Ijekavian)
• śȅver (Ekavian)

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *sěverъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sêʋer/
• Hyphenation: se‧ver

Noun

sȅver m inan (Cyrillic spelling се̏вер)

1. (uncountable) north

   Antonym: jȕg

Declension

Declension of sever

	singular
nominative	sever
genitive	severa
dative	severu
accusative	sever
vocative	severe
locative	severu
instrumental	severom

Related terms

• severni

Slovak

Slovak Wikipedia has an article on:

sever

Wikipedia ^sk

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *sěverъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈsever]

• Audio (Bratislava):

  (file)

Noun

sever m inan (genitive singular severu, nominative plural severy, declension pattern of dub)

1. North

   na sever ― to the north

   na severe ― in the north

   na sever od Ontaria ― (moving) north of Ontario

Declension

Declension of sever
(pattern dub)

	singular
nominative	sever
genitive	severu
dative	severu
accusative	sever
locative	severe
instrumental	severom

Derived terms

• severák
• Severan
• severne
• severný

See also

compass points:  ^[edit]

severozápad	sever	severovýchod
západ		východ
juhozápad	juh	juhovýchod

Further reading

• “sever”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2025

Slovene

Slovene Wikipedia has an article on:

sever

Wikipedia ^sl

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *sěverъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sèːʋɛr/

Noun

sẹ́ver m inan

1. north

Declension

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

Masculine anim., hard o-stem
nom. sing.	séver
gen. sing.	sévera
	singular	dual	plural
nominative (imenovȃlnik)	séver	sévera	séveri
genitive (rodȋlnik)	sévera	séverov	séverov
dative (dajȃlnik)	séveru	séveroma	séverom
accusative (tožȋlnik)	sévera	sévera	sévere
locative (mẹ̑stnik)	séveru	séverih	séverih
instrumental (orọ̑dnik)	séverom	séveroma	séveri

Derived terms

• séveren

Further reading

• “sever”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene), 2014–2025

Turkish

Verb

sever

1. third-person singular indicative aorist of sevmek