severity

English

Etymology

From severe +‎ -ity, from Middle French severite, from Latin severitas.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /sɪˈvɛɹɪti/
• (US) IPA^(key): /səˈvɛɹəti/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (Indic) IPA^(key): /siˈvijəɾiti/, /ˈsivijæɾiti/
• Rhymes: -ɛɹɪti

Noun

severity (countable and uncountable, plural severities)

1. The state of being severe.
   • 1948, Harold Vinal, Voices‎^[1], numbers 132-136, →OCLC, page 51:

     […] 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 . […]

2. The degree of something undesirable; badness or seriousness.

   The severity of the offence merits a long prison sentence.

Synonyms

• severeness

Translations

state of being severe

• Arabic: صَرَامَة (ṣarāma)
• Bulgarian: стро́гост (bg) f (strógost), суровост (bg) f (surovost)
• Catalan: severitat f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 严厉 (zh) (yánlì)

• Czech: vážnost f (situace), kritičnost f, závažnost f
• Dutch: ernst (nl) f, strengheid (nl) f
• Finnish: vakavuus (fi), ankaruus (fi), kovuus (fi)
• French: sévérité (fr) f
• Gothic: 𐍈𐌰𐍃𐍃𐌴𐌹 f (ƕassei)
• Irish: anróiteacht f
• Italian: severità (it) f
• Korean: 엄격함 (eomgyeokham), 심각함 (simgakham)
• Latin: severitas f
• Maori: pākahatanga
• Portuguese: gravidade (pt) f, severidade (pt) f
• Romanian: severitate (ro) f, asprime (ro) f
• Russian: стро́гость (ru) f (strógostʹ)
• Spanish: severidad (es) f
• Turkish: vehamet (tr)
• Volapük: sevär (vo)

degree of something undesirable; badness

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 严肃性 (yánsùxìng)

• Czech: závažnost f
• Dutch: ernst (nl) f, ongewenstheid (nl) f, slechtheid (nl) f
• Finnish: pahuus (fi)
• French: gravité (fr) f
• German: Härte (de) f, Stärke (de) f, Gewichtung (de) f
• Italian: gravità (it) f, serietà (it) f
• Persian: شدت (fa) (šeddat)
• Russian: суро́вость (ru) f (suróvostʹ)
• Spanish: seriedad (es) f, severidad (es) f, gravedad (es) f
• Turkish: derece (tr), ciddiyet (tr)