To cut or divide something completely, or to end a relationship or connection abruptly.
From Old French 'sevrer' meaning 'to separate or part.' The Latin root 'separare' underlies the concept, though the exact path of evolution involves separating things both physically and metaphorically.
The word 'sever' contains an interesting ambiguity—it can mean cutting a rope (physical separation) or cutting off a friend (relational separation)—and languages often use the same words for both because humans understand emotional and physical separation as fundamentally similar experiences.
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