severance

American  

[sev-er-uhns, sev-ruhns] / ˈsɛv ər əns, ˈsɛv rəns /

noun

• severances
  plural

1. the act of severing or the state of being severed.

2. a breaking off, as of a friendship.

3. Law. a division into parts, as of liabilities or provisions; removal of a part from the whole.

4. severance pay.

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severance British  

/ ˈsɛvərəns /

noun

1. the act of severing or state of being severed

2. a separation

3. law the division into separate parts of a joint estate, contract, etc

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonseverance
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• severances
  plural

Etymology

Origin of severance

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English severaunce, from Anglo-French; equivalent to sever + -ance

Explanation

A severance is the ending of a connection or relationship. A terrible argument between you and your cousin could turn into an all-out feud and eventually a complete severance between the two branches of your family. The noun severance implies a separation or cut of some kind, like a severance between your father and the political party with which he has become disenchanted. If you cut off relations with a person, group, or organization, you've initiated a severance. The phrase "severance pay" means the deal a company offers to an employee who's being let go. Severance comes from the word sever, "to cut," whose origin is the Latin separare, or "separate."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

severance severances

In his exit, Kubasik surrendered $58 million worth of unvested stock and severance payments that would have been worth about $9 million, according to data-provider Equilar.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

They signed confidentiality agreements in return for severance pay, and fear that speaking publicly could hurt their chances of finding work in an industry which has a small network.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

Unified letter shows that the school board was laying the legal groundwork to dismiss Carvalho for cause, which would have deprived him of contractual severance payments.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026

The company said the stark increase in its expenses for the quarter was tied to legal and severance costs, and operating income would have been up 9% without those charges.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 30, 2026

“If anything like this occurs again, all of your fathers will be dismissed without severance. Anybody know what severance is? Annie?”

From "Al Capone Does My Shirts" by Gennifer Choldenko

Discovery told investors that the cost of the downsizing would exceed $1 billion, to pay severances among other expenses.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2023

“I asked him repeatedly if the governor had approved or knew about any of his severances or payments, and Roy repeatedly refused to say that was the case,” Mayer said Thursday.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 4, 2021

Still, newspapers with strong guilds – the New York Times and Washington Post – have seen fewer layoffs and less brutal severances, on the whole, than those without.

From Salon ● Mar. 18, 2013

How other nations lined up on the one side and the other is indicated by the State Department's list of war declarations, and diplomatic severances, which follows: Austria against Belgium, Aug.

From History of the World War An Authentic Narrative of the World's Greatest War by Francis Andrew March

Isoult began to cry at this, which cut her deeper than all the severances she had known.

From The Forest Lovers by Maurice Henry Hewlett