severity
nounUK /sɪˈvɛɹ.ɪ.ti/ · US /səˈvɛɹ.ə.ti/
Etymology From Middle English severity, from Middle French severite (modern French sévérité), from Latin sevēritās. By surface analysis, severe + -ity.
1
The state of being severe.
- […] the fear of God whereof ' tis written Keeper : But not the fear of punishment for sin And I can see that the uncertainty In which we act is a severity , A cruelty , amounting to injustice That nothing but God's mercy can assuage . […]1948, Harold Vinal, Voices, numbers 132-136, →OCLC, page 51:
2
The degree of something undesirable; badness or seriousness.
- The severity of the offence merits a long prison sentence.
- Synonyms
- severeness
- Derived terms
- overseverity, unseverity