Etymograph

English

severance

Severance comes from Old French sevrance ‘separation’, from Latin parō ‘to arrange’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pr̥h₃o-.

  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 CEsēparō2as sēparāre, apophonic form‘to divide, separate’
  5. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*sēperāre2reconstructed
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400sevrer3‘to separate’
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400sevrance4‘separation’
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500severaunce4
  9. Englishearliest quotation 2026severance4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin separo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old French sevrer
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Old French sevrance
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English severance
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2026, Mike Isaac, Meta to Lay Off 10 Percent of Work Force in A.I. Push: “Meta will notify employees who are being laid off…”.

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, Old French sevreras sēparāre, apophonic form‘to divide, separate’
  5. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*sēperāreWiktionary, Old French sevrerreconstructed
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400sevrerWiktionary, Old French sevrance‘to separate’
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400sevranceWiktionary, English severance‘separation’
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500severaunceWiktionary, English severance
  9. Englishearliest quotation 2026severanceWiktionary, English severance. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2026, Mike Isaac, Meta to Lay Off 10 Percent of Work Force in A.I. Push: “Meta will notify employees who are being laid off…”

Formed from sever + -ance

Latin parāre ‘provide, arrange’

Latin separāre ‘to separate’

Vulgar Latin *sēperāre

Old French sevrer ‘to sever’

Middle English severen

English sever

Linked words

through Latin parō ‘to arrange’

empire, repair, preparation, emperor, imperial, apparel, apparatus, empress, parachute, preparatory, disparate, pare, rampart, imperium, imperious, reparation, imperator, 16 more

through Latin sēparō ‘to divide, separate’

separate, separation, inseparable, separator, separable, 2 more

Today it means

noun The act of severing or the state of being severed.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “severance”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin separo, Old French sevrer, Old French sevrance. 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- / severance

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