English

Alternative forms

• severall (obsolete)

Determiner

several

1. (obsolete) Separate, distinct; particular. [15th-19th century]
   • 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essayes, London: Edward Blount, OCLC 946730821, I.42:

     He had a religion apart: a God severall unto himselfe, whom his subjects might no waies adore.

   • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, II.i.4.2:

     So one thing may be good and bad to several parties, upon diverse occasions.

   • 1852, Washington Irving, Tales from the Alhambra:

     the hearts of the three cavaliers were completely captured, especially as gratitude was added to their admiration; it is a little singular, however, though no less certain, that each of them was enraptured with a several beauty.

   • Dryden

     Each several ship a victory did gain.

   • Alexander Pope

     Each might his several province well command, / Would all but stoop to what they understand.

2. A number of different; various. (Now merged into later senses, below) [from 16th century]
   • 1610, The Tempest, by Shakespeare, act 3, scene 1

     […] for several virtues / Have I lik'd several women; never any / With so full soul but some defect in her / Did quarrel with the noblest grace she ow'd, / And put it to the foil […].

   • Francis Bacon

     habits and faculties, several, and to be distinguished

   • Dryden

     Four several armies to the field are led.

3. Consisting of a number more than two but not very many; diverse. [from 17th century]
   • 1784, William Jones, The Description and Use of a New Portable Orrery, &c., preface:

     The favourable reception the Orrery has met with from Perſons of the firſt diſtinction, and from Gentlemen and Ladies in general, has induced me to add to it ſeveral new improvements in order to give it a degree of Perfection; and diſtinguiſh it from others ; which by Piracy, or Imitation, may be introduced to the Public.

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 14, in The China Governess:

     Just under the ceiling there were three lunette windows, heavily barred and blacked out in the normal way by centuries of grime. Their bases were on a level with the pavement outside, a narrow way which was several feet lower than the road behind the house.

   • 2004, The Guardian, 6 November:

     Several people were killed and around 150 injured after a high-speed train hit a car on a level crossing and derailed tonight.

   • 2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 55:

     The solitary, lumbering trolls of Scandinavian mythology would sometimes be turned to stone by exposure to sunlight. Barack Obama is hoping that several measures announced on June 4th will have a similarly paralysing effect on their modern incarnation, the patent troll.

Derived terms

• several states
• severally

See also

• sever

Translations

Adverb

several ‎(not comparable)

1. By itself; severally.
   • Robynson (More's Utopia)

     Every kind of thing is laid up several in barns or storehouses.

Noun

several ‎(plural severals)

1. (obsolete) An area of land in private ownership (as opposed to common land).
2. Each particular taken singly; an item; a detail; an individual. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
3. (archaic) An enclosed or separate place; enclosure. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Translations

Statistics

Anagrams

• leavers
• reveals

Old French

Adjective

several m ‎(oblique and nominative feminine singular severale)

1. separate

Declension

Noun

several m ‎(oblique plural severaus or severax or severals, nominative singular severaus or severax or severals, nominative plural several)

1. one's own property or possession

Related terms

• sevrer
• desevrer

Descendants

• English: several

References

• several on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub