severity

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   excessive sternness

   severity of character

2. 2
   noun

   extreme plainness

   The severity of the winter ruined the harvest.

3. 3
   noun

   something hard to endure

   The severity of the winter ruined the harvest.

4. 4
   noun

   used of the degree of something undesirable e.g. pain or weather

   The severity of the winter ruined the harvest.

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

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