Etymograph

English

several

Several comes from Old French several, from Medieval Latin sēparālis, from Latin sēpar ‘separate’, a back-formation from sēparō ‘to divide’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pr̥h₃o-1reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*paro-1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEparō1‘to arrange’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsēparō2‘to divide’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsēpar3‘separate’
  6. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500sēparālis3
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400several3
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1551several3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin separo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin separ
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English several
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1551, Thomas More, (please specify the Internet Archive page): “Every kind of thing is laid up several in…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pr̥h₃o-Wiktionary, Latin separoreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*paro-Wiktionary, Latin separoreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEparōWiktionary, Latin separo‘to arrange’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsēparōWiktionary, Latin separ‘to divide’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsēparWiktionary, English several‘separate’
  6. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500sēparālisWiktionary, English several
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400severalWiktionary, English several
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1551severalWiktionary, English several. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1551, Thomas More, (please specify the Internet Archive page): “Every kind of thing is laid up several in…”

The story

Not related to severe or seven.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

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.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “several”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin separo, Latin separ. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pr̥h₃o- / several

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