severalty

[ sev-er-uhl-tee, sev-ruhl- ]

/ ˈsɛv ər əl ti, ˈsɛv rəl- /

Save This Word!

noun, plural sev·er·al·ties.

the state of being separate.

Law.

(of an estate, especially land) the condition of being held or owned by separate and individual right.
an estate held or owned by individual right.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of severalty

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English word from Anglo-French word severalte.See several, -ty²

Words nearby severalty

sever, severable, several, severalfold, severally, severalty, severance, severance pay, severance tax, severe, severe combined immune deficiency

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use severalty in a sentence

The group is made up of individuals, and the group's life is the life of individuals carried on in at least ostensible severalty.
The Theory of the Leisure Class|Thorstein Veblen
The land is not held in severalty, as in America, but by communities.
The Old World and Its Ways|William Jennings Bryan
How it came about that these men, besides holding land in severalty, held a tract in common, we are left to guess.
Domesday Book and Beyond|Frederic William Maitland
To Gaul and to Britain they seem to have brought with them the idea that the cultivable land should be allotted in severalty.
Domesday Book and Beyond|Frederic William Maitland

Lastly, as a general rule men do not possess pasture land in severalty; they turn out their beasts on the common of the vill.
Domesday Book and Beyond|Frederic William Maitland

British Dictionary definitions for severalty

severalty

/ (ˈsɛvrəltɪ) /

noun plural -ties

the state of being several or separate

(usually preceded by in) property law the tenure of property, esp land, in a person's own right and not jointly with another or others

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012