In the 16th century, Turkish women could divorce their husbands if the man failed to keep his family’s pot filled with coffee.
SEVERING
severance, severing
(noun) the act of severing
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Verb
severing
present participle of sever
Noun
severing (plural severings)
The act by which something is severed.
Anagrams
• grievens, veerings
Source: Wiktionary
SEVER
Sev"er, v. t. [imp. &. p. p. Severed; p. pr. & vb. n. Severing.] Etym: [OF. sevrer, severer, to separate, F. sevrer to wean, fr. L. separare. See Separate, and cf. Several.]
1. To separate, as one from another; to cut off from something; to divide; to part in any way, especially by violence, as by cutting, rending, etc.; as, to sever the head from the body. The angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just. Matt. xiii. 49.
2. To cut or break open or apart; to divide into parts; to cut through; to disjoin; as, to sever the arm or leg. Our state can not be severed; we are one. Milton.
3. To keep distinct or apart; to except; to exempt. I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there. Ex. viii. 22.
4. (Law)
Definition: To disunite; to disconnect; to terminate; as, to sever an estate in joint tenancy. Blackstone.
Sev"er, v. i.
1. To suffer disjunction; to be parted, or rent asunder; to be separated; to part; to separate. Shak.
2. To make a separation or distinction; to distinguish. The Lord shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt. Ex. ix. 4. They claimed the right of severing in their challenge. Macaulay.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
15 March 2025
TRUNCATION
(noun) the replacement of an edge or solid angle (as in cutting a gemstone) by a plane (especially by a plane that is equally inclined to the adjacent faces)
Coffee Trivia
