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.

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

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛvə(ɹ)

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

• becut
• cut off

• separate

• “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.

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

Borrowed from Latin sevērus.

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

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

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

1. strict, severe

• severament

• severitat

• “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, 2026
• “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 Wikipedia has an article on:

sever

Wikipedia ^cs

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

• IPA^(key): [ˈsɛvɛr]

• Audio:

  (file)

sever m inan (relational adjective severní)

1. north

   Antonym: jih

compass points:  ^[edit]

severozápad	sever	severovýchod
západ		východ
jihozápad	jih	jihovýchod

• “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), 2008–2026

sever (comparative plus sever, superlative le plus sever)

1. severe

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

sêver n

1. drool, saliva

• sêveren

• Dutch: zever
• Limburgish: zeiver

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

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

sēver m

1. alternative form of sāver

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

Borrowed from French sévère, from Latin severus.

• Audio:

  (file)

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

1. strict

• severitate

• “sever”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2026

• sjȅver (Ijekavian)
• śȅver (Ekavian)

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *sěverъ.

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

sȅver m inan (Cyrillic spelling се̏вер)

1. (uncountable) north

   Antonym: jȕg

• severni

Slovak Wikipedia has an article on:

sever

Wikipedia ^sk

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *sěverъ.

• IPA^(key): /sever/, [ˈseʋer]
• Rhymes: -ever
• Hyphenation: se‧ver

• Audio (Bratislava):

  (file)

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

compass points:  ^[edit]

severozápad	sever	severovýchod
západ		východ
juhozápad	juh	juhovýchod

• “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, 2003–2026

Slovene Wikipedia has an article on:

sever

Wikipedia ^sl

From Proto-Slavic *sěverъ. First attested in the 18th century.

• IPA^(key): /sèːʋɛr/

sẹ́ver m inan

1. north

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.

• séveren

• “sever”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene), 2014–2026

sever

1. third-person singular indicative aorist of sevmek