severus

See also: Severus

Latin

Etymology

According to De Vaan, from Proto-Italic *seɣwēros, from a collective derivation of the noun Proto-Indo-European *séǵʰwr̥, from Proto-Indo-European *seǵʰ- (“to hold”).

Other etymologists, such as Meiser, posit this word to be from se- + verus, but De Vaan notes a heavy semantic mismatch.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [sɛˈweː.rʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [seˈvɛː.rus]

Adjective

sevērus (feminine sevēra, neuter sevērum, comparative sevērior, superlative sevērissimus); first/second-declension adjective

1. severe, serious, strict, stern, stringent, austere, harsh, grave (in demeanor)

   Synonyms: trux, ferōx, atrōx, violēns, immānis, efferus, ferus, crūdēlis, barbaricus, silvāticus, acerbus, ācer

   Antonyms: mītis, tranquillus, misericors, placidus, quietus, clemens

   • c. 84 BCE – 54 BCE, Catullus, Carmina 5.1–3:

     Vivamus, mea Lesbia, atque amemus,
     rumoresque senum severiorum
     omnes unius aestimemus assis.

     Let us live, my Lesbia, and love, and account all the rumours of very grave old men as worth a single penny.

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	sevērus	sevēra	sevērum		sevērī	sevērae	sevēra
genitive	sevērī	sevērae	sevērī		sevērōrum	sevērārum	sevērōrum
dative	sevērō	sevērae	sevērō		sevērīs
accusative	sevērum	sevēram	sevērum		sevērōs	sevērās	sevēra
ablative	sevērō	sevērā	sevērō		sevērīs
vocative	sevēre	sevēra	sevērum		sevērī	sevērae	sevēra

Derived terms

• sevēritās
• sevēritūdō
• assevērō

Related terms

• assevērō
• persevērō

Descendants

• Asturian: severu
• Catalan: sever
• English: severe
• French: sévère
• Galician: severo
• Italian: severo
• Occitan: sevèr
• Portuguese: severo
• Sicilian: siviru
• Spanish: severo

Further reading

• “severus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “severus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “severus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to be brought up under strict discipline: severa disciplina contineri
    
  • a stern critic of morals: severus morum castigator
    
  • to be a strict disciplinarian in one's household: severum imperium in suis exercere, tenere (De Sen. 11. 37)
    
• “severus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “severus”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “severe”, in The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia: […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.