See Also: sever(dictionary)
sever(dictionary)
Sever disease(medicine)
Condition, Sever(health)
Sever's disease(health)

sever (iou)



sever verb. ME.
[Anglo-Norman severer, Old French sevrer (mod. 'wean') from Proto-Romance from Latin separare SEPARATE verb.]
I. verb intrans.
Part, separate, be separated (from). ME.
R. Burns Ae fond kiss, and then we sever. T. Jefferson Should we sever from each other..no foreign power will ally with us.
b. Be or become separated into parts. LME.
G. Chapman The soul departed.., The body..Can not consist but seuer and dissolue.
c. Of the lips etc.: move apart, open. L18.
M. R. Mitford The deaf man..Saw her lips sever.
Law.
a. Of two or more defendants: plead independently. Freq. in sever in their challenges. E17.
b. Of joint tenants: divide their jointure. L19.
Make a separation or division between. Long arch. rare. E17.
Bible (AV): Exodus 9:4 And the Lord shall seuer betweene the cattel of Israel, and the cattell of Egypt.
II. verb trans.
Put or set apart; part or separate, esp. by putting in different places; dissociate, disunite. Also foll. by from. LME.
Bacon The chaffe may and ought to be seuered from the corne in the Eare. W. S. Churchill The Dutch and English..have seldom been severed in the..course of European events.
b. Cause (the lips etc.) to move apart or open. LME.
Tennyson Her lips are sever'd as to speak.
c. Set apart for a special purpose (chiefly in biblical translations). Also foll. by out. LME-E18.
Bible (AV): Ezekiel 39:14 And they shall seuer out men of continual emploiment.
d. Deprive of; hinder from; free from. E16-E17.
B. Googe Weeding..seuereth the Corne from all anoyances.
e. = SEPARATE verb 3a. E17-L18.
Separate in thought or idea; distinguish, treat as distinct; mark off from. LME.
Milton To know Both spirituall powre & civill, what each meanes, What severs each. Expositor He severs his own position most definitely from that of Sabbatier.
Keep distinct or apart by an intervening space, barrier, etc.; (of a space, barrier, etc.) intervene between. LME.
Bible (AV): Exodus 8:22 I will seuer..the lande of Goshen..that no swarmes of flies shall be there. Wordsworth Immense The space that severed us!
Divide (a thing) into two or more parts; cut up into (now rare or obsolete exc. as in sense 8 below). Formerly also, divide according to kind or quality, sort. LME.
M. Hanmer He sheweth this heresie..to have been severed into sundry sects.
Divide by cutting, slicing, etc., esp. suddenly or forcibly; cut through; fig. put an end to, break off, (a link or connection). LME.
A. Wilson A vein in his neck was severed and he bled to death. W. S. Churchill King William was able to sever diplomatic relations with France.
b. Break up, scatter, or disperse (an assembly, group, etc.). Now rare. LME.
Spenser Let the flitting aire my vaine words sever.
Detach or remove (from) by cutting, slicing, etc., esp. suddenly and forcibly; cut off. LME.
M. Puzo Severed from its body, the black silky head..was stuck fast in a thick cake of blood.
Law.
a. Divide (a joint estate) into independent parts. M16.
b. Remove (crops, minerals, fixtures, etc.) from land, a building, etc. E17.
c. Separate and remove by a nonsuit (a plaintiff in a joint action). E17.
d. Cause (two or more defendants) to plead independently. M17.
severa'bility noun the property of being severable; esp. (US Law) the property of a contract, bill, etc., of having clauses or parts that can be treated independently as regards validity: L19.
severable adjective (a) distinct, separate; (b) able to be severed: LME.
seve'ration noun (rare) separation, severance M17.
severer noun (rare) a person who severs or separates something M17.