Sev"er*ance (?), n.
1.
The act of severing, or the state of being severed; partition; separation.
Milman.
2. Law
The act of dividing; the singling or severing of two or more that join, or are joined, in one writ; the putting in several or separate pleas or answers by two or more disjointly; the destruction of the unity of interest in a joint estate.
Bouvier.
© Webster 1913.