severance

/ˈsɛvrɪns/

/ˈsɛvrɪns/

Other forms: severances

A severance is the ending of a connection or relationship. A terrible argument between you and your cousin could turn into an all-out feud and eventually a complete severance between the two branches of your family.

The noun severance implies a separation or cut of some kind, like a severance between your father and the political party with which he has become disenchanted. If you cut off relations with a person, group, or organization, you've initiated a severance. The phrase "severance pay" means the deal a company offers to an employee who's being let go. Severance comes from the word sever, "to cut," whose origin is the Latin separare, or "separate."

Definitions of severance

1. noun

   the act of severing
   synonyms: severing

   type of:

   cut, cutting

   the act of cutting something into parts
2. noun

   a personal or social separation (as between opposing factions)
   synonyms: breach, break, falling out, rift, rupture

   types:

   schism

   the formal separation of a church into two churches or the withdrawal of one group over doctrinal differences

   type of:

   breakup, detachment, separation

   coming apart
3. noun

   money paid out to an employee who was dismissed from working for reasons beyond the employee's control