Other forms: severed, severing, severs
To sever is to cut something right through, separating it. Sever a rope, a severed hand, sever ties.
It means a complete cut rather than a partial one — a severed cable is in two pieces. Figuratively it applies to relations: sever ties, sever links, sever diplomatic relations, which is a formal and serious act between states. Note severance, which in employment means the ending of a contract and the money paid for it; and that sever and separate are the same Latin word arriving twice.
1verbseverTo cut something right through, separating it.
“A digger accidentally severed the water pipe, and the whole street lost its supply.”
2verbendTo end a relationship or connection formally.
“The country severed all ties with its neighbour after the attack on the border.”
sever is a cutting through.
Old French sevrer comes from Latin separare, to separate — se, apart, plus parare, to arrange. Separate is the same verb borrowed directly from Latin, so the two are doublets.
Latin
separāre — to separate
Old French
sevrer
Middle English
severen
English, today
sever
Built from
From Middle English severen, from Old French sevrer, from Latin separāre (“to separate”), from se- (“apart”) + parāre (“provide, arrange”). Doublet of separate, from the past participle of that Latin verb.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA