释义 |
sever, v.|ˈsɛvə(r)| Also 5 sevyr, severe, Sc. sevir, 6 sevour, seaver, Sc. siver, -ir, syver, sewer. [a. AF. severer, ceverer, OF. sevrer, severer, mod.F. sevrer to wean:—pop.L. *sēperāre, L. sēparāre to separate. Cf. It. sceverare, scevrare.] I. Transitive senses. 1. To put apart, set asunder (two or more persons or things, or one from another); to part or separate by putting in different places.
1382Wyclif Gen. xxv. 6 He seueryde [Vulg. separavit] hem fro Ysaac..to the est plage. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 307 Everiche in his owne celle..i-served [v.r. ysevered] by hem self [orig. ab aliis separatus]. c1440Pallad. on Husb. iii. 147 And seuered by hem self sette euery kynd. c1450Merlin xxii. 402 Than he seuered a part of his peple. 1535Coverdale Ezek. xxxiv. 20, I will seuer the fat shepe from the leane. 1591Spenser Virg. Gnat 623 By which iust Minos righteous soules doth seuer From wicked ones. 1605Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. xxv. §9. 112 The chaffe may and ought to be seuered from the corne in the Eare. 1623Massinger Dk. Milan ii. E 1 b, Franc. What winde hath rais'd this tempest? Seuer 'em, I command you. 1667Milton P.L. ix. 252 Least harm Befall thee sever'd from me. 1788Cowper Negro's Compl. 11 What are England's rights,..Me from my delights to sever? 1908S. A. Cook Relig. Anc. Palestine v. 56 Cremation..may have been intended to sever the soul from the body. b. To part or open (the lips, eyelids).
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xvii. (1495) h ij b, Mannes lippes..maye be seueryd & departed. a1586Sidney Arcadia iii. (1598) 372 Pyrocles, then first seuering his eye liddes, and quickly apprehending her danger. 1842Tennyson Day-Dream, Sleeping Pal. iv, Her lips are sever'd as to speak. c. To disjoin, dissociate, disunite (persons or things normally united by some immaterial tie).
1382Wyclif Prov. xvi. 28 The man ful of woordis seuereth princis. 1412–20Lydg. Chron. Troy v. 24 Amonge hem silf to bring in variaunce, And her hertis..Contagiously to seueryn & deuyde. 1495Act 11 Hen. VII, c. 34 §1 That all the same..Hereditamentes shuld be..seperat severed and disanexed from the Duchie of Cornwall. 1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, iv. i. 21 God forbid, that I should wish them seuer'd, Whom God hath ioyn'd together. 1601― All's Well i. iii. 57 How somere their hearts are seuer'd in Religion. 1605Camden Rem. 3 In whose person the two mightie Kingdomes of England and Scotland hitherto severed, are now conioyned. 1831Scott Cast. Dang. v, I will..take an opportunity of severing these two young men. 1856Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. iii. 188 A revolution which severed England from the papacy. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) IV. 529 Plato sees that the ideal of the state in his own day is more and more severed from the actual. 1898Watts-Dunton Aylwin ii. xi, I would trample it [a coronet] in the mud, if it were to sever me from Winifred. d. in legal phraseology (cf. 7).
1532Dial. Laws Eng. ii. vii. 19 b, The fealtie can nat be seuered fro the reuercion. 1579Termes de la Ley 44 b/2 Such common [viz. common appurtenant]..may bee seuered from the land to which it is appurtenaunte. a1625Finch Law i. iii, Things incident cannot be seuered. 1884Law Times Rep. 12 Apr. 201/1 Where a fund is directed to be at once set apart and severed from the rest of the testator's estate, it carries income from the testator's death. †e. To part or remove by some technical process (a substance) from another with which it is combined or mixed; = separate v. 5. Obs.
1626Bacon Sylva §311 It is vsuall in Clarifying Ippocrasse to put in Milke; Which after seuereth and carrieth with it the Grosser Parts of the Ippocrasse. 1661Boyle Certain Physiol. Ess. (1669) 251 The thinner and more serous Liquor..being thus sever'd from the grosser parts of the milk. 1667Milton P.L. i. 704 A second multitude With wondrous Art founded the massie Ore, Severing each kinde, and scum'd the Bullion dross. 1796Kirwan Elem. Min. (ed. 2) I. 485 A general method of discriminating and severing them [sc. earths]. fig.1626Bacon Sylva §490 This Axiome is of large extent; And therefore would be seuered, and refined by Triall. † f. (In Biblical language.) To set apart or segregate for a special purpose. Also with out.
1382Wyclif Deut. iv. 41 Thanne Moyses seuerde thre citees, biȝonde Jordan. [Also 1611.] 1609Bible (Douay) 2 Esdras iii. 16 Iacob thou didst sever to thy selfe, but Esau thou didst separate. 1611― Ezek. xxxix. 14 And they shall seuer out men of continual emploiment. 1718Prior Callimachus' Hymn to Jupiter 93 The Soldier..rich with hostile Spoil, Severs the Bull to Mars. †g. In occasional uses: To deprive of; to hinder from; to free from. Obs.
1508Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 337 Quhen I seuerit had that syre of substance in erd. 1533Bellenden Livy ii. xx. (S.T.S.) I. 208 The Inemyis..mycht skairslie be severit fra oppugnatioun of þare tentis [orig. aegre abstinent quin castra oppugnent]. 1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. (1586) 29 b, Weeding when it is knotted, seuereth the Corne from all anoyances. 16012nd Pt. Return fr. Parnassus i. vi. 484 What slimie bold presumtious groome is he, Dares with his rude audacious hardye chatt Thus seuer me from skybredd contemplation? h. refl.
1568Grafton Chron. II. 61 The most part of them that came with the Archebishop and accompanied him before, for feare of the kinges displeasure seuered themselues from him. 1589Nashe Pref. to Greene's Menaphon (Arb.) 10 Amongst others in that Age, Sir Thomas Eliots elegance did seuer it selfe from all equalls. 1611Bible Judges iv. 11 Now Heber the Kenite..had seuered himselfe from the Kenites. 1617Moryson Itin. ii. 14 Their Lordships advised the Lord Deputy to offer Odonnel pardon, so as he would sever himselfe from Tyrone. 1845S. Austin Ranke's Hist. Ref. II. iv. v. 537 Switzerland, which had now severed itself from the empire. 1863Geo. Eliot Romola ii. iv. (1880) II. 44 To sever herself from the man she loved no longer. 1872Rae tr. Taine's Notes Eng. xvi. 206 The Englishman does not sever himself from public affairs. 2. To separate in thought or idea; to distinguish, treat as distinct; to mark off from.
1426Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 2032, I [Reason] am she By whom that ye yknowe be ffrom other bestys..And seueryd in especyal. c1510More Picus (W. de W.) A iv, Suche vnknowen and straunge tokens..severynge the cradyls of suche specyall chyldren fro y⊇ company of other of the comune sorte. 1594Hooker Eccl. Pol. i. iii. §2 Expedient it will be that we seuer the law of nature obserued by the one from that which the other is tied vnto. 1605B. Jonson Volpone v. v, Volp. Am I then like him? Mos. O, Sir, you are hee: No man can seuer you. c1652Milton Sonn. to Sir H. Vane 11 To know Both spirituall powre & civill, what each meanes, What severs each. a1654Selden Table-T., Books (Arb.) 31 He is a poor Divine that cannot sever the good from the bad. 1909Expositor Sept. 222 In another letter he severs his own position most definitely from that of Sabbatier. 1910Ibid. Aug. 127 We cannot sever religious cult from social custom. 3. To keep distinct or apart by an intervening space or barrier. Of the intervening medium: To occupy the space or interval between. Also fig.
1422Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. lviii. 223 That the rybbis Bene wel departid or Seueret. 1533Bellenden Livy ii. xi. (S.T.S.) I. 171 Belive all municiouns, quhilkis war laid be Industrye to sivir þe armyis, war removit. 1584Cogan Haven Health ccxli. 240 Let your lodging be in an vpper chamber, yet seuered from the roufe with some false flower. 1600Nashe Summer's Last Will H 4, Ile beate downe the partition with my heeles Which as a mud-vault seuers hell and thee. 1611Bible Exod. viii. 22, I will seuer in that day the lande of Goshen..that no swarmes of flies shall be there. 1665Havers P. della Valle's Trav. E. India 102 A large cover'd room in the poop, sever'd from the banks of rowers. 1805Wordsw. Prelude xi. 94 With such general insight into evil, And of the bounds which sever it from good. 1814― Excurs. iii. 661 Immense The space that severed us! 1850Mrs. Browning Prometh. Bound (near end) Poems I. 183 The gulf which severs rule from servitude. 1874Green Short Hist. ii. §1 Fens nearly one hundred miles long severed East Anglia from the midland counties. 4. To divide into (two or more) parts. Also refl. Now rare or Obs. exc. as in 5.
1435Cov. Leet Bk. 182 For & the Craft were severed in the maner as hit [is] seide aboue, Then the Cardwirdrawers and the myddelmen most nedes bye the wire that they shull wirche of the smythiers. 1533Gau Richt Vay (1888) 83 Part of psalmis ar sewert be this vord sela that singnifeis rest and pece. 1566Act 8 Eliz. c. 16 §3 The Tayle of Rewarde of everie of the foresayd Counties..shalbe severed and devyded. 1577Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist., Euseb. v. xii. (1619) 85 He sheweth this heresie in his time to have been severed into sundry sects. 1584B. R. tr. Herodotus ii. 73 b, Running in one streame til it come to the city of the Cercasians, and afterwards seuering it selfe into three sundry chanels. 1617Moryson Itin. ii. 95 The rest were severed into small companies, and unlike to draw to any dangerous head. 1654[Ellistone & Sparrow] tr. Behmen's Myst. Magn. iv. 11 Now the will Severs it selfe..into two Kingdomes, where each dwelleth in it selfe. †b. To divide according to kind or quality, to sort. Obs.
1523–34Fitzherb. Husb. §36 To seuer pees, beanes, and fytches... Let theym be well reed with syues, and seuered in thre partes, the great from the small. Ibid. §53 Whan thou haste all shorne thy shepe, it is than best tyme to drawe them, and soo seuer theym in dyuers sortes. 1573–80Tusser Husb. (1878) 33 Now friend, as ye wish, goe seuer thy fish: When friend shall come, to be sure of some. †c. To divide and distribute. Obs. rare—1.
1548Geste Agst. Pr. Masse I ij, He bad vs seuer the consecrate breade charitablye emong vs & not eche of vs to reserue it to hym selue. 5. To part or divide suddenly or forcibly; to cut in two, cleave or rend asunder. With a material or immaterial thing as object.
1412–20Lydg. Chron. Troy iii. 2056 Eueryche on oþer lik tigers or lyons Be-gan to falle, and proudly to assaille, And furiously seuere plate and maille. Ibid. v. 648 Þe þondre, þat seuerede seil & mast. a1450Knt. de la Tour 49 No man shulde putte betwene hem no thinge that might seuere the loue that God and the churche hathe ioyned in hem. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. iv. 52 b, Many they were yt sought to seaver and break that societie. 1595Daniel Civ. Wars vi. xciv, There the closest ranks hee seuereth. 1667Milton P.L. ix. 958 Our State cannot be severd, we are one, One Flesh. 1791Mackintosh Vind. Gallicæ Wks. 1846 III. 163 Let the Court of Madrid..sever every tie that unites her to Europe. 1837Whewell Hist. Induct. Sci. (1857) I. 190 Under their hands, the pediment was severed at its vertex, and divided into separate halves. 1852Robertson Serm. Ser. iii. (1857) xii. 171 Not many years ago the Church of Scotland was severed into two great divisions. 1861Buckle Civiliz. (1873) III. iii. 166 Thus it was that this great tie was severed. 1867Baker Nile Tribut. xiv. (1886) 246 Another galloped up behind, and severed the hamstring. 1870Bryant Homer I. viii. 240 The aged man Hastened to sever with his sword the thongs That bound him to the car. 1875Encycl. Brit. III. 377/1 Having discovered that this company was merely a swindling concern, he severed his connection with it. b. To break up, scatter, disperse (an assemblage or company of individuals). Also refl. Now rare.
1412–20Lydg. Chron. Troy iv. 2301 But Troylus ay hem chaseth her & ȝonder, And seuered hem maugre al her myȝt. a1513Fabyan Chron. v. xcii. (1516) 36 b/1 Y⊇ Brytons..that were disparkled and seueryd in many countres. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 976 On Friday at night blewe such a storme that seuered all the nauie. 1590Shakes. Mids. N. iii. ii. 23 As..russed-pated choughes, many in sort (Rising and cawing at the guns report) Seuer themselues, and madly sweepe the skye. 1591Spenser Virg. Gnat 638 Let the flitting aire my vaine words sever. 1853Kane Grinnell Exp. xxi. (1856) 168 A gale of wind has severed the pack, and the drift begins. ¶c. To cut the dewlap of (cattle). (? Misprint for setter: see setter v.)
1523Fitzherb. Husb. §59 (1525?) 26 b, There be many men that can seuer theym, & that is to cutte the dewlappe before. 6. ‘To part by violence from the rest’ (J.); to separate suddenly and forcibly; to cut, tear, or pull off.
1626Bacon Sylva §400 It is reported..that a Sacrificed Beast hath lowed, after the Heart hath been seuered. a1700Evelyn Diary 12 May 1641, The fatal stroke which sever'd the wisest head in England from the shoulders of the Earle of Strafford. 1712Addison Spect. No. 519 ⁋6 That Species of Shell-fish..that grow to the Surface of several Rocks, and immediately die upon their being sever'd from the Place where they grow. 1784Cowper Task v. 38 He from the stack carves out th' accustom'd load,..With such undeviating and even force He severs it away. 1798Wordsw. Simon Lee 86, I struck, and with a single blow The tangled root I severed. 1815J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 27 By which any length desired will instantly be severed from the rest of the tube. 1839Lane Arab. Nts. I. 108 The blow, which I gave with the view of severing his head, only cut the gullet and skin and flesh. 1908S. A. Cook Relig. Anc. Palestine ii. 16 The heads had evidently been severed before burial, and there was no trace of the bodies. 7. Law. a. To divide (a joint estate) into independent parts.
1544tr. Littleton's Tenures 69 Whan the Ioyntenauntes were ioyntly seased in fee symple..thoughe that one of them made estate of that, that vnto him belongeth for terme of lyfe..yet he hath nat seuered the fee symple. 1628Coke On Litt. 182 b, If a man maketh a lease to two for their liues, and after granteth the reuersion to one of them in fee, the ioynture is seuered. 1766Blackstone Comm. II. 185 How an estate in joint-tenancy may be severed and destroyed. 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) II. 499 The question was, whether the jointure was severed or not. 1895Strahan Law of Property (1908) 89 On the reversion being severed the conditions of all kinds are to be apportioned between the persons among whom the reversion is divided. Ibid. 132 A joint tenancy, where the joint tenants are beneficial owners, may be severed either (a) by a partition of the joint estate, or (b) by alienation by one of the joint tenants of his undivided share. b. To detach (growing fruit or trees, minerals, fixtures, etc.) from the soil or realty.
1602W. Fulbecke 1st Pt. Parall. 37 If a man..deuiseth the corne growing vpon the lande, and dyeth before it bee seuered, the deuisee shall haue it. 1628Coke On Litt. 55 b, If a Disseisor sowe the ground and seuer the corne. 1911Odgers Common Law I. 329 All these become personal property as soon as they are severed from the soil, and until they are severed they cannot, of course, be carried away. Ibid. II. 700 The produce of the trees, when they should be cut down and severed from the freehold. c. To separate and remove (one of the plaintiffs in a joint action, when he is nonsuited). (See also summon v.)
1602W. Fulbecke 1st Pt. Parall. 29 By our law if two bring a writ of warde of the body of the heire beeing within age, and the one of them is summoned and seuered, and the other recouereth, hee which was seuered may haue a writte of accompt against the other for the profites. 1628Coke On Litt. 139 In reall or mixt actions the Nonsuite of one Demandant is not the Nonsuite of both, but he that makes default shall be summoned and seuered. 1652tr. Fitzherbert's Nat. Brev. 36 If one of those who is named by his proper name, will not sue..he shall be severed. 1741T. Robinson Gavelkind i. vi. 109 If two Coparceners join against the Alienee in a Writ of Partition at Common Law, and one of them does not proceed, yet he may be summoned and severed, as his Part shall be parted and severed, as well as the other Parts. d. To part (two or more defendants) in their trial. (Cf. 10 a.)
1660Trial Regicides 57 Are you all agreed as to your Challenges?.. No, my Lord... Then we must do as before, sever you, and go to tryal severally. 1691Arraignmt. Sir R. Graham, etc. 22 Since they are pleased to declare they will sever in their Challenges, we must desire to sever them in their Tryal, and to begin with the Tryal of my Lord Preston. 8. absol. To make a separation or division (between). rare.
1611Bible Exod. ix. 4 The Lord shall seuer betweene the cattel of Israel, and the cattell of Egypt. 1622J. Taylor (Water-P.) Water-cormorant A 4, The Pope sends stormes forth, seuers or combines, According to his mood it raines or shines. 1648–9Eikon Bas. xi. 82 There remain's in far the Major part of both Houses..so much Learning, Reason, Religion, and just Moderation, as to know how to sever between the use and abuse of things. 1882Pusey Paroch. & Cathedr. Serm. xvii. 243 He stands between the dead and the living. He severs between her past and her future life. II. intr. (Cf. the reflexive uses in branch I.) 9. Of a person: To go away, part, be sundered from. Of two or more: To be separated, quit each other, go asunder, part.
13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1797 Ho..semly hym kyssed, & siþen ho seueres hym fro. Ibid. 1987, & vche segge as sore, to seuer with hym þere, As þay hade wonde worþyly with þat wlonk euer. c1375Lay Folks Mass Bk. (MS. B.) 396 In oure last day..when þis worlde & we shal seuer. c1470Henry Wallace iii. 86 Gude lycht harnes, fra that tyme, wyst he euir; For sodeyn stryff, fra it he wald nocht seuir. 1533Bellenden Livy i. x. (S.T.S.) I. 60 Sone eftir baith þe armyis siverit and returnit hame. 1618Fletcher Isl. Princess ii. i, Come, all sever, But keep still within sight. 1667Milton P.L. ix. 366 Seek not temptation then, which to avoide Were better, and most likelie if from mee Thou sever not. 1715Pope 2nd Epist. to Miss Blount 5 From the dear man unwilling she must sever, Yet takes one kiss before she parts for ever. 1791Burns Ae Fond Kiss i, Ae fond kiss, and then we sever. 1825Jefferson Autobiog. Wks. 1859 I. 31 Should we sever from each other,..no foreign power will ally with us. 1842W. A. Butler Serm. Ser. i. x. (1849) 166 The more the parties sever, the closer the knot is bound. b. of things.
1545T. Raynalde Byrth Mankynde i. xiv. (1552) 39 Manye tymes the one [vein] seuereth from the other before conuenient season and so causeth aborcement. 1598Drayton Heroic. Ep., C'tess Salisb. to Black Prince 47 If modesty and women once doe seuer, Farewell our fame, farewell our name for euer. 1605Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. xxii. §17. 86 b, Theis three as in the bodye, so in the minde seeldome meete, and Commonly seuer. a1626― Physiol. Rem. Baconiana (1679) 140 Spirit of Wine mingled with common Water, although it be much lighter than Oyl,..severeth not again, as Oyl doth. 1859Ld. Lytton Wanderer, Once xxiii, These lips from thine, I know, must sever. c. Of the lips, doors, or the like: To go apart, open.
1797A. M. Bennett Beggar Girl (1813) III. 267 Her lips severed, but no voice was heard. 1811Miss Mitford Blanch of Castile in L'Estrange Life (1870) I. 130 The deaf man..Felt her hands' pressure soft and warm, Saw her lips sever. 1871B. Taylor 2nd Pt. Faust i. i, 'T is thus,..The portals of fulfilment widely sever. d. Of a whole or aggregate: To part, become divided, be separated into parts.
c1407Lydg. Reson & Sens. 2527 Her companye Ne seuereth nat, but y-fere Eche ys to other so entere. 1412–20― Chron. Troy iv. 4084 She..slowe of hem vp-on euery syde, Makynge her rengis for to seuere wyde. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VI, 102 b, This fortresse stode in such a place, that what with waters and what with marishes, the army must sever in thre partes. 1608Chapman Byron's Conspir. iii. i, As, the soul departed from the body, The body wants coherence in his parts Can not consist but seuer and dissolue. 1805–6Cary Dante, Inf. xxv. 124 His tongue, continuous before and apt For utterance, severs [si fende]; and the other's fork Closing unites. 10. Law. a. Of two or more defendants: To plead independently. More fully to sever in their challenges, sever in their defence, etc.
a1625Hobart Rep. (1650) 245 Now though the Defendants shall not sever in Dilatories, yet in Bars they may. 1660Trial Regicides 57 If one challenge one [of the Jury-panel], and another challenge another, we must sever, and go to Tryal one by one. 1691Arraignmt. Sir R. Graham, etc. 23 If you had joyned in your Challenges, then you had been tryed all together... That Advantage you lose by severing in your Challenges. 1824Stephen Princ. Pleading 270 If the defendants have once united in the plea, they cannot afterwards sever at the rejoinder. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xx. IV. 523 The prisoners who were first arraigned did not sever in their challenges, and were consequently tried together. 1884Law Times Rep. 10 May 321/1 The defendants had severed in their defence to the action. 1884Law Rep. 26 Chanc. Div. 701 Motion made by counsel for the Defendants..for leave to sever in their defences. b. Of joint tenants: To divide their jointure.
1895Strahan Law of Property (1908) 131 When joint tenants for life sever, each takes a tenancy in severalty or in common for his own life in his share. |