English
several
Several comes from Old French several, from Medieval Latin sēparālis, from Latin sēpar ‘separate’, a back-formation from sēparō ‘to divide’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pr̥h₃o-reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*paro-reconstructed
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEparō‘to arrange’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsēparō‘to divide’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsēpar‘separate’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500sēparālis
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400several
- Englishearliest quotation 1551several
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pr̥h₃o-reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*paro-reconstructed
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEparō‘to arrange’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsēparō‘to divide’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsēpar‘separate’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500sēparālis
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400several
- Englishearliest quotation 1551several
Earliest quotation: 1551, Thomas More, (please specify the Internet Archive page): “Every kind of thing is laid up several in…”
Equivalent to sever + -al
Latin parāre ‘provide, arrange’
Latin separāre ‘to separate’
Vulgar Latin *sēperāre
Old French sevrer ‘to sever’
Middle English severen
English sever
The story
Not related to severe or seven.
Linked words
through Latin parō ‘to arrange’
empire, repair, preparation, emperor, imperial, apparel, apparatus, empress, parachute, preparatory, disparate, pare, rampart, imperious, imperium, reparation, imperator, 16 more
through Latin sēparō ‘to divide, separate’
separate, separation, inseparable, separator, separable, 2 more
Today it means
adj Separate, distinct; particular.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pr̥h₃o- / several