severance

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English severaunce,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Anglo-Norman severance,^[5][6][2][7] a variant of sevrance (“separation, parting”),^[3][2][5] from sevrer (“to separate”) (the source of sever) and the suffix -ance.^[5][8][3] The French verb comes from Vulgar Latin *seperō, from Latin sēparō (“to pull apart”),^[3][9] formed from sē- (“apart”) and parō (“to make ready, prepare”).^[3] Merriam-Webster gives the source as Middle French sevrance or severance.^[8] The Anglo-Norman noun is recorded from the mid-12th century, for separation or parting, and later in law for the separation of parties joined in an action and the division of a joint holding.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

A distinction or difference between things: 1422, in J. Yonge's translation of the Secreta Secretorum, which calls meekness the difference between a king and a tyrant.^[5][2][3] Etymonline also finds it in the early 15th century for the release of apprentices from earlier obligations.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

From the mid-15th century the word meant the act of severing or the state of being severed,^[3][5] and the Rolls of Parliament use it from 1461 for political separation.^[2][5] The sense "distinction, difference" is now obsolete.^[5][6] Law took it up from 1539 for the division of a joint estate into independent parts, from 1602 for detaching crops, minerals or fixtures from the land, and in 1607 for separating parties joined in a writ.^[5] Johnson (1755) defined it as separation or partition.^[11] The modern sense, discharge from employment, is recorded from 1941,^[5][3] and Etymonline considers it probably an extension of the legal use;^[3] severance pay is attested by 1942.^[3]

Timeline

• 1422 – a distinction or difference between things (now obsolete).^[5][2]
• 1461 – political separation.^[2]
• 1467 – the act of severing; separation.^[5]
• 1539 – in law, the division of a joint estate.^[5]
• 1602 – in law, the detaching of crops or fixtures from land.^[5]
• 1941 – discharge from employment; severance pay.^[5][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of severing, or the state of being severed; separation: the severance of diplomatic ties.^[12][8][5]
2. Discharge from employment under a contract; also short for severance pay, money paid to a worker who is dismissed.^[5][3]
3. In law, the division of a joint estate or contract into separate parts, or the separation of the claims of several parties into separate actions.^[12][5][13]
4. (obsolete) A distinction or difference between things.^[5][2]

Word family

• nonseverance
• severance tax

Related words

• sever
• separate
• several
• separation

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
13. ^ Garner, Bryan A., ed. (2004), Black's Law Dictionary, 8th ed., St. Paul, Minn.: Thomson West