severe English · revision 4498

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1548|origins=la severus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /sɪˈvɪə/, US /səˈvɪr/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|sévère]] (12th century),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) or directly [[der|la|sevērus|t=serious, grave, strict, austere]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021) a word of uncertain origin.^(Etymonline) De Vaan and Watkins derive it from [[ine-pro|*seǵʰ-|alt=*segh-|t=to have, hold]], with the notion of steadfastness,^(Etymonline) while Barnhart and Merriam-Webster mention a derivation from sē “without” and a word for “kindness” related to vērus “true”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) Barnhart adds that severe may also have been formed in English from the earlier noun [[severity]] (1481).^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Of persons, rigorous in treatment or punishment, strict: 1548 in the OED and Barnhart, in Elyot's Dictionary,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) the 1540s in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Of laws and punishment, unsparing, and of looks and demeanour, stern, are from the 1560s;^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) unsparing in criticism is from 1561.^(OED 1989) Of styles and tastes, plain and restrained, shunning ornament, it is from the 1660s,^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) as in ''severe dress''.^(Cresswell 2021) The notion “sharp, distressing, violent” is attested of weather by the 1670s,^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) of illness by 1725, and of pain by 1742.^(Etymonline) In Somerset and Devon dialect it meant sheepish or ashamed.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1481 – ''severity''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1548 – strict, rigorous.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1560s – of punishment and looks.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1660s – plain in style.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1670s – of weather.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1725 – of illness.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1742 – of pain.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Very bad, serious or intense: ''a severe injury'', ''severe weather''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Harsh or [[strict]] in treatment of others; unsparing.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # [[stern|alt=Stern]] or forbidding in manner or appearance.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Plain in style, without decoration.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Hard to endure or accomplish; demanding: ''a severe test''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[severely]]

+ * [[severeness]]

+ * [[severity]]

+ * [[oversevere]]

+ * [[supersevere]]

+ * [[unsevere]]

+ * [[severe combined immunodeficiency]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[persevere]]

+ * [[asseverate]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Severe, stern, austere, ascetic and strict all mean exacting in discipline or control; severe stresses adherence to rigorous standards and often suggests harshness.^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}