Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language

1. (n.) The quality or state of being severe.

2. (n.) Gravity or austerity; extreme strictness; rigor; harshness; as, the severity of a reprimand or a reproof; severity of discipline or government; severity of penalties.

3. (n.) The quality or power of distressing or paining; extreme degree; extremity; intensity; inclemency; as, the severity of pain or anguish; the severity of cold or heat; the severity of the winter.

4. (n.) Harshness; cruel treatment; sharpness of punishment; as, severity practiced on prisoners of war.

5. (n.) Exactness; rigorousness; strictness; as, the severity of a test.