severity

SEVER'ITY, noun [Latin sveritas.] 1. Harshness; rigor; austerity; want of mildness or indulgence; as the severity of a reprimand or reproof. 2. Rigor; extreme strictness; as the severity of discipline or government. 3. Excessive figor; extreme degree or amount. Severity of penalties or punishments often defeats the object by exciting pity. 4. Extremity; quality or power of distressing; as the severity of pain or anguish. 5. Extreme degree; as the severity of cold or heat. 6. Extreme coldness or inclemency; as the severity of the winter. 7. Harshness; cruel treatment; sharpness of punishment; as severity practiced on prisoners of war. 8. Exactness; rigor; niceness; as the severity of a test. 9. Strictness; rigid accuracy. Confining myself to the severity of truth. Dryden.