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Severity

//səˈvɛɹəti// noun

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The state of being severe. countable, uncountable

    "[…] 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. 2
    excessive sternness wordnet
  3. 3
    The degree of something undesirable; badness or seriousness. countable, uncountable

    "The severity of the offence merits a long prison sentence."

  4. 4
    extreme plainness wordnet
  5. 5
    something hard to endure wordnet
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  1. 6
    used of the degree of something undesirable e.g. pain or weather wordnet

Etymology

From Middle English severity, from Middle French severite (modern French sévérité), from Latin sevēritās. By surface analysis, severe + -ity.

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