severance

See also: Severance

English

Alternative forms

• severaunce

Etymology

From sever +‎ -ance, from Middle English severaunce, from Anglo-Norman, Old French sevrance, from sevrer.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛv.ɹəns/, /ˈsɛv.ɜː(ɹ)n̩s/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛv.ɚ.əns/, /ˈsɛv.ɹəns/
• Rhymes: -ɛvɹəns

Noun

severance (countable and uncountable, plural severances)

1. The act of severing or the state of being severed.
2. A separation.
3. A severance payment.
   • 2026 April 23, Mike Isaac, Eli Tan, “Meta to Lay Off 10 Percent of Work Force in A.I. Push”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN, archived from the original on 23 April 2026:

     Meta will notify employees who are being laid off on May 20, and will provide severance packages for those in the United States that include “16 weeks of base pay plus two weeks for every year of employment,” according to the memo to workers.

Derived terms

• nonseverance
• severance tax

Translations

act of severing

• Bulgarian: отделяне (bg) (otdeljane), откъсване (bg) n (otkǎsvane)
• Dutch: scheiding (nl) f, (het) lossnijden (nl), (het) los (nl) zijn (nl)
• Finnish: irrottaminen (fi), katkaiseminen (fi)
• German: Scheidung (de) f, Trennung (de) f
• Greek: αποκοπή (el) f (apokopí)
• Hungarian: elvágás (hu), levágás (hu), szétvágás, szétmetszés
• Japanese: 切断 (ja) (setsudan)
• Korean: 절단 (ko) (jeoldan)
• Polish: oddzielenie (pl) n, rozdzielenie (pl) n
• Russian: отделе́ние (ru) n (otdelénije)
• Spanish: truncamiento (es) m, cercenadura f, cercenamiento m

separation

• Bulgarian: разделяне (bg) (razdeljane)
• Dutch: scheiding (nl) f
• Finnish: ero (fi)
• Gallurese: mutzatura
• German: Trennung (de) f
• Greek: αποκοπή (el) f (apokopí), διαχωρισμός (el) m (diachorismós)
• Hungarian: (act) elválasztás (hu), szétválasztás (hu), különválasztás (hu), elkülönítés (hu), megszakítás (hu), (occurrence) elszakadás (hu), különválás (hu), kettéválás (hu), elkülönülés (hu)
• Italian: separazione (it)
• Japanese: 分離 (ja) (bunri)
• Korean: 분리 (ko) (bulli)
• Polish: separacja (pl) f, odseparowanie (pl) n
• Russian: отделе́ние (ru) n (otdelénije), разрыв (ru) (razrýv)
• Sardinian:

  Campidanese: truncamentu

  Logudorese: truncadura

• Turkish: ayrılma (tr)

severance payment — see severance pay