Severity
Severity , noun
[Latin severitas: compare French sévérité.]
The quality or state of being severe.
(a)
Gravity or austerity; extreme strictness; rigor; harshness; as, the severity of a reprimand or a reproof; severity of discipline or government; severity of penalties.
Strict age, and sour severity.
(b)
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.
(c)
Harshness; cruel treatment; sharpness of punishment; as, severity practiced on prisoners of war.
(d)
Exactness; rigorousness; strictness; as, the severity of a test.
Confining myself to the severity of truth.