Etymologically
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severus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [sɛˈweː.rʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [seˈvɛː.rus][1]

Forms

sevērus (feminine sevēra, neuter sevērum, comparative sevērior, superlative sevērissimus); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *seχwēro- (“steadfast”), which de Vaan, after Nussbaum, takes from Proto-Indo-European *seǵʰ-u̯ēr-o- (“steadfast, tough”), from a noun *seǵʰ-ur/-un- “holding”, from Proto-Indo-European *seǵʰ- (“to hold”).[2][1][3] Cognate with Sanskrit सहुरि (sáhuri, “victorious, strong”) and Ancient Greek ἐχυρός (ekhurós, “strong, secure”).[2] Walde–Hofmann and Meiser explained it as *se- “apart” and *wēro- “friendly”, as in vērus, which de Vaan finds difficult in meaning; the Oxford Latin Dictionary follows that view.[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus uses it.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it was stern or strict in dealing with others, severe, and strict in one's own morals, austere, not frivolous.[4][6] Of subjects it was weighty or serious, and of punishment harsh or rigorous, as in Livy.[4][6] Döderlein says it means one who makes no jokes, against sērius, what is no matter for joking, and calls it a moral quality against the intellectual austērus.[7]

In medieval Latin it was stern, especially in judgement, and of animals fierce.[8] It was the cognomen of the emperor Septimius Severus.[4][9] English severe is from it, first of punishment.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[2][5]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses sevēritās.[2][5]
  • 1540s – English severe is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Stern, strict, severe.[4][9]
  2. Austere, serious in conduct.[4][1]
  3. Weighty, serious (of subjects).[4]
  4. Harsh, rigorous.[6][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  8. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press