Etymology

severity

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Today it means: The state of being severe. Full definition →

Middle English severity ← Middle French severite ← Latin sevēritās
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromsevēritās
  2. Middle French · derived fromseverite
  3. Middle English · inherited fromseverity
  4. English todayseverity

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

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.