Several
/ˈsɛv.ər.əl/noun
Being more than two but not many; separate or individual.
Did you know?In Middle English, several could mean “separate” or “individual,” and that older sense survives in legal language like a “several” debt—showing how words can shift from separation to counting.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*se-
“to cut apart, divide”
Latin
Latin
separāre
“to set apart, separate”
Late Latin
Latin
separālis
“separate, individual”
Old French
Old French
several
“separate, distinct”
Middle English
English
severel
“separate, individual; each separately”
Modern English
English
several
“more than two but not many; separate or individual”