Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Sever

Sever , transitive verb

[Old French sevrer, severer, to separate, French sevrer to wean, from Latin separare. See Separate, and compare 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) To disunite; to disconnect; to terminate; as, to sever an estate in joint tenancy. — Blackstone

Sever , intransitive verb

1.
To suffer disjunction; to be parted, or rent asunder; to be separated; to part; to separate. — Shakespeare
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