/səˈvɪəri/, /səˈvʌɪərʌɪ/, U.S. /səˈvɪ(ə)ri/, /səˈvaɪˌraɪ/, (Anglicized) sevirs.sevirn.
/ˈseɪvɪə/, /ˈsiːvə/, U.S. /ˈseɪˌvɪ(ə)r/, /ˈsiˌvər//səˈvɪəri/, /səˈvʌɪərʌɪ/, U.S. /səˈvɪ(ə)ri/, /səˈvaɪˌraɪ/, (Anglicized) sevirs. Roman History.
A member of a board or commission of six men; spec. (a) each of the commanders of six squadrons of equites in Rome (see eques n.), who annually performed manoeuvres before the emperor; (b) any of six men, often freedmen, annually appointed to maintain or oversee the worship of the cult of Rome and Augustus in Italy and the western provinces. Cf. sexvir n., sevirate n.
ΚΠ
1672 E. Ashmole Inst. Order of Garter xxi. 554 An eminent Commander, who was called Sevir, whom he [sc. Turnebus] there interprets to be the chief of the six Classes of Knights, in such manner that every Classis had his Sevir.
1736 J. Addison tr. Petronius Wks. i. 128 This is Habinnas the Sevir, he's a Lapidary by trade.
1789 P. Thicknesse Year's Journey France & Spain II. xlii. 81 He was of the quality of Sevir, and probably one of the six priests of the temple of Augustus.
1849 Proc. Yorks. Philos. Soc. 1 60 It is probable, that though the Augustales held their office for life, the Seviri may have been annually changed.
1851 C. Anthon Man. Rom. Antiq. ii. 26 It became the custom..to confer the title [sc. Princeps Juventutis], as well as that of Sevir, upon the probable successor to the throne when he..was presented with an equus publicus.
1914 Trans. & Proc. Amer. Philol. Soc. 45 235 Numerous inscriptions of northern Italy record freeborn seviri whose lack of cognomina indicates an early date.
1961 Phoenix 15 168 It is quite possible that the Seviri existed at other leading centres such as Gloucester, London, or Colchester.
2002 G. Rowe Princes & Polit. Cultures ii. 76 The princeps iuventutis and seviri (ceremonial leaders: Gaius is the first attested) were makeshift officers.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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