severityn.
/sᵻˈvɛrᵻti/, U.S. /səˈvɛrədi/ 1.
a. Strictness or sternness in dealing with others; stern or rigorous disposition or behaviour; rigour in treatment, discipline, punishment, or the like.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > strictness > [noun] > severity or sternness
rethenesseOE
grimness971
hardnessOE
sternhead1297
sharpnessa1325
reddoura1375
fiercetya1382
sternness1382
fiercenessc1384
sturdinessc1384
fellnessc1410
austeritya1425
raddourc1440
austerenessa1450
severity1530
cruelness1537
cruelty1556
severeness1579
tender mercies1611
piquancya1677
Draconianism1819
astringency1823
Draconism1832
hard-handedness1849
starkness1884
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > harshness or severity > [noun]
rethenesseOE
grimness971
sternhead1297
sharpnessa1325
reddoura1375
sternness1382
fiercenessc1384
sturdinessc1384
duressc1400
fellnessc1410
austeritya1425
harshnessc1480
roughness1530
severity1530
durity1543
ungentleness1548
severeness1579
ruggedness1638
atrocity1641
austereness1646
piquancya1677
Draconianism1819
astringency1823
Draconism1832
starkness1884
1530 T. Wolsey in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1827) 2nd Ser. II. 33 Your most excellent nature wych hath ever be moved and propensyd to clemency and mercy then to rygor and severyte.
1538 in State Papers Henry VIII (1849) VIII. 50 Wher as severitie is to be used ayenst the anabaptistes.
1582 Bible (Rheims) Rom. xi. 22 See then the goodnes and the seueritie of God.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) ii. iii. 46 I laugh to see your Ladyship so fond, To thinke, that you haue ought but Talbots shadow, Whereon to practise your seueritie . View more context for this quotation
1622 F. Bacon Hist. Raigne Henry VII 235 As for the Seueritie vsed vpon those which were taken in Kent, it was but vpon a Scumme of People.
1680 J. Dryden in J. Dryden et al. tr. Ovid Epist. Pref. sig. A3v The Emperour who Condemn'd him, had as little reason as another man to punish that fault with so much severity.
1752 D. Hume Polit. Disc. (ed. 2) x. 203 Excessive severity in the laws is apt to beget great relaxation in their execution.
1838 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece V. xli. 178 His regulations were..enforced with inflexible severity.
1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. I. xxxii. 443 I have to guard its ventilation with all the severity that would befit a surgical ward.
1868 E. Edwards Life Sir W. Ralegh I. iii. 41 An illustrious poet..apologises for it [the massacre] as an act of unavoidable severity.
b. An act or instance of severity.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > strictness > [noun] > severity or sternness > act or instance of
severitya1538
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > harshness or severity > [noun] > act or instance of
reddoura1375
raddourc1440
severitya1538
hard lines1695
a1538 T. Starkey Dial. Pole & Lupset (1989) 81 A lyke severyte I fynd in the punnyschment of treson.
1689 N. Luttrell Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) I. 613 The severityes towards the protestants were continued.
a1715 Bp. G. Burnet Hist. Own Time (1724) I. 145 That so a colour might be put on their severities against such as should refuse it.
1726 J. Ayliffe Parergon Juris Canonici Anglicani 157 There is a Difference between an Ecclesiastical Censure, and an Ecclesiastical Severity: For under the Appellation of a Censure we only include Excommunication, Suspension, and an Interdict; but under the Denomination of an Ecclesiastical Severity, every other Punishment of the Church is intended... But according to some, a Censure and a Severity is the same Thing.
1871 A. C. Fraser Life & Lett. G. Berkeley ii. 19 The severities of Tyrconnel obliged Molyneux to fly to England.
c. Harshness of judgement, criticism, or rebuke. Also plural, severe rebukes or criticisms.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > strictness > [noun] > rigour or severity of rules, judgement, or discipline
smarthead?a1400
rigour1426
strictness1602
exactness1631
severity1660
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > criticism > [noun] > severe > quality
severity1660
1660 F. Brooke tr. V. Le Blanc World Surveyed 2 Though I received some severities from my mother on this occasion.
1665 R. Boyle Occas. Refl. To Sophronia sig. A6 The Devout..will be scrupulous to be more Severe to these Papers, than a Person in whom, upon the score of her own Style, Severity were more justifiable than in most Readers.
1713 R. Steele Englishman No. 50. 326 I should be very loth to see you fall with too particular a severity upon the Error.
1785 W. Cowper Task v. 170 'Twas but a mortifying stroke Of undesign'd severity, that glanc'd..On human grandeur and the courts of kings.
1859 W. Bagehot Lit. Stud. (1879) I. 176 We should think it unseemly to criticise the..work..with extreme severity.
1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus Poems v. 2 Sour severity, tongue of eld maligning.
1884 R. W. Church Bacon i. 2 Bacon has been judged with merciless severity.
d. Sternness of aspect or countenance; a severe look or expression.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > strictness > [noun] > severity or sternness > of expression
grimness1565
sternness1590
hardness1598
severity1711
grim1845
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > harshness or severity > [noun] > of aspect or expression
grimness1565
sternness1590
severity1711
grim1845
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > thing seen > appearance or aspect > [noun] > facial appearance or expression > specific
light1535
mask1605
severity1711
beam1773
study1886
1711 E. Budgell Spectator No. 162. ¶11 I think, says the Author, I never saw a greater Severity than in this Man's Face.
1770 J. Langhorne & W. Langhorne tr. Cleomenes in Plutarch Lives V. 177 In the court, where, with a silent severity of aspect, he observed all that passed.
1782 F. Burney Cecilia IV. viii. i. 158 How will his noble mother disdain me! how cruelly shall I sink before the severity of her eye!
1828 J. W. Croker Diary 21 Apr. [Sir J.] Moore's countenance assumed a great severity.
e. transferred in reference to handling or dealing with inanimate objects.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > violent behaviour > [noun] > rough or violent treatment > specifically of things
severity1878
1878 J. Marshall Ann. Tennis 112 Though not playing with so much severity as some others, he yet can cut the ball so as to make and win short chases on the floor with some certainty.
1898 W. W. Jacobs Grey Parrot in Sea Urchins (1906) 219 Mr. Gannett..with a small knife dug with much severity and determination a hardened plug from the bowl [of his pipe].
2.
a. Strictness or austerity of life, morals, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > asceticism > [noun]
sharpness1340
austerenessa1450
austerityc1450
rigourc1450
severity1481
severeness1579
asceticism1845
ascetism1850
1481 tr. Cicero De Senectute (Caxton) sig. Giiv Seuerity is contynuance of perseuerance of oon maner of lyuyng as wele in the thyngys within as in theym withoute.
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus at Seuere Life passed in great seueritie and grauitie.
1578 J. Lyly Euphues f. 77 We would..wyth more seueritie direct the sequele of our lyfe, for the feare of present death.
1599 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet i. i. 216 Bewtie steru'd with her seueritie, Cuts bewtie off from all posteritie. View more context for this quotation
1680 J. Dryden in J. Dryden et al. tr. Ovid Epist. Pref. sig. A3v 'Tis true they [Ovid's Elegies, etc.] are not to be Excus'd in the severity of Manners.
1729 W. Law Serious Call xviii. 329 Such severity of behaviour, such abstinence [etc.].
1741 C. Middleton Hist. Life Cicero II. viii. 256 He affected the severity of the Stoic.
1903 A. Westcott Life & Lett. B. F. Westcott I. 23 I had ever before me what I may call the severity of his example.
b. plural.
ΚΠ
1673 R. Allestree Ladies Calling i. i. ⁋10. 8 Tho these first severities were soon lost in the successes of that Empire.
1797 A. Radcliffe Italian I. vi. 145 O, Ellena! let the severities of custom yield to the security of my happiness.
1826 C. Lamb Wedding in Elia 2nd Ser. The tristful severities of a funeral.
1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Colonial Reformer (1891) 291 The ordinary prudences and severities of conscience.
3. Strictness in matters of thought or intellect; rigid accuracy or exactness; undeviating conformity to truth or fact. Also plural instances of this.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > freedom from error, correctness > exactness, accuracy, precision > [noun] > strictness
reddoura1375
rigour1494
severity1638
strictness1656
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > freedom from error, correctness > exactness, accuracy, precision > [noun] > strictness > instance of
severity1864
1638 F. Junius Painting of Ancients 73 Then the Artists them~selves, the severitie and integritie of whose judgements is often weakened by the love of their owne and the dislike of other mens workes.
a1676 M. Hale Primitive Originat. Mankind (1677) i. i. 27 A sort of Men that pretend to much severity of Wit, and would be thought too wise to be imposed upon by Credulity.
1693 J. Dryden Disc. conc. Satire in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal Satires p. vi I may say it, with all the severity of Truth, that every Line of yours is precious.
1791 E. Burke Let. to Member Nat. Assembly in Wks. (1834) I. 477 The process of reasoning called deductio ad absurdum, which even the severity of geometry does not reject.
1834 Burke's Wks. I. Introd. 75 A vagueness and looseness of language quite incompatible with precision of thought, and utterly inconsistent with the severity of philosophy.
1846 T. De Quincey Syst. Heavens in Tait's Edinb. Mag. Sept. 576/1 A wish..for the naked severities of science, with a total absence from all display of enthusiasm.
1864 Hamerton Doré in Fine Arts Q. Rev. III. 2 I have but one law of conduct in criticism which is to judge..neither with indulgence nor prejudiced harshness, but with severity (in its true sense) stating qualities and defects with equal force.
4. Austere purity or simplicity of style, taste, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > good taste > simplicity > [noun]
plainness1549
austerity1581
simplicity1593
severity1713
simplex munditiis1740
chastity1760
chasteness1889
penny-plainness1920
sabi1932
wabi1934
understatement1967
1713 H. Felton Diss. Reading Classics 25 Considering the Disadvantage of the Language, and the Severity of the Roman Muse, the Poem is still more Wonderful.
1768 O. Goldsmith Good Natur'd Man iii. 35 The severity of French taste.
1858 C. Kingsley My Winter-garden in Misc. (1860) I. 153 Look at that old hound... Look at the severity, delicacy, lightness of every curve.
1859 J. M. Jephson & L. Reeve Narr. Walking Tour Brittany iii. 36 The modest severity of the Breton dress.
1883 Eng. Illustr. Mag. Nov. 90/2 That severity of treatment on which the success of iron-work greatly depends.
5. Rigour or inclemency (of weather or climate); esp. extremity of cold.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > bad weather > [noun] > condition of > severity
rigoura1525
rudeness1649
severitya1676
austerity1742
a1676 M. Hale Primitive Originat. Mankind (1677) ii. ix. 210 The severity of the Winter finds them [sc. Insects] out and destroys them.
1794 J. Morse Amer. Geogr. 112 Winter continues with such severity from December to April, as that the largest rivers are frozen over.
1826 C. Lamb Let. 9 May (1935) III. 44 Summer, as my friend Coleridge waggishly writes, has set in with its usual severity [also alleged to be a phrase of H. Walpole's].
1863 ‘G. Eliot’ Romola II. xvii. 207 The bare wintry morning, the chill air, were welcome in their severity.
1880 S. Haughton Six Lect. Physical Geogr. iv. 175 The severity of the climate in this part of Asia may be estimated by a comparison of this January and July temperatures of Astrachan.
1912 Cowley Evangelist 181 We have had on three successive evenings thunderstorms of increasing severity.
6. Violence or acuteness (of illness).
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > characteristics > [noun] > degree of intensity > violence or severity
malicea1382
vehemency?1541
malignity1543
acutenessa1644
virulency1651
malignancy1693
virulence1748
severity1808
acuity1839
fulminancy1887
1808 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 19 362 Nor does this disease at all seem to increase either in severity or in frequency.
1879 St. George's Hosp. Rep. 9 126 The eruption..increased in severity till death.
1893 A. S. Eccles Sciatica 68 After a period of rest..varying in duration..according to the severity of the case.
7. Grievousness (of pain, affliction, penalties, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > violent action or operation > severity > [noun]
tartnessc1000
asperity?c1225
hardship?c1225
smartness1340
duressc1400
straitnessc1460
hardlaikc1540
severeness1579
sorenessa1586
grievousness1611
severity1835
sting1860
the mind > emotion > suffering > mental anguish or torment > [noun] > severity or acuteness
tartnessc1000
hardship?c1225
smartness1340
sharpnessa1400
gripea1547
pungency1649
severity1835
1835 A. Alison Hist. Europe during French Revol. III. xxvi. 620 They now felt the severity of the confiscation which they had inflicted on others.
1890 J. G. Nicolay & J. Hay Abraham Lincoln X. 314 The news [of Lincoln's assassination] fell with peculiar severity upon the hearts which were glowing with the joy of a great victory.
1893 Law Times 94 600/2 The [income] tax falls with excessive and undue severity upon one class, and with unreasonable lightness upon others.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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