define severity
Severity is being strict or harsh. An example of severity is a teenager being punished for coming home five minutes past their curfew. 1  the quality or condition of being severe; specif., 2  strictness; harshness.  gravity, as of expression.
1 severity: The degree of impact that a defect has on the development or operation of a component or system.  The actual terminologies, and their meaning, can vary depending on people, projects, organizations, or defect tracking tools, but the following is a normally accepted classification.