Etymograph

English

sever

Sever comes from Old French sevrer ‘to sever’, from Latin separāre ‘to separate’, and ultimately from parāre ‘provide, arrange’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEparāre‘provide, arrange’
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEseparāre‘to separate’
  3. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*sēperārereconstructed
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400sevrer‘to sever’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500severen
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1591sever

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history not traced here.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEparāre‘provide, arrange’
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEseparāre‘to separate’
  3. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*sēperārereconstructed
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400sevrer‘to sever’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500severen
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1591sever

Earliest quotation: 1591, William Shakespeare, The First Part of Henry the Sixt: “No more can I be seuered from your side”.

Linked words

through Latin parāre ‘provide, arrange’

prepare, parade, parry, parable, 1 more

Today it means

verb To cut free.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Latin parāre / sever

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