Definition of "several"
several
adjective
comparative more several, superlative most several
(obsolete) Separate, distinct; particular.
Quotations
Here is the will, and under Caesar's seal. To every Roman citizen he gives, to every several man, seventy-five drachmas.
1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)
A number of different; various.
Quotations
[…] for several virtues Have I lik'd several women; never any With so full soul but some defect in her Did quarrel with the noblest grace she ow'd, And put it to the foil […].
1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act III, scene i]
determiner
Consisting of a number more than two but not very many.
Quotations
The favourable reception the Orrery has met with from Perſons of the firſt diſtinction, and from Gentlemen and Ladies in general, has induced me to add to it ſeveral new improvements in order to give it a degree of Perfection; and diſtinguiſh it from others ; which by Piracy, or Imitation, may be introduced to the Public.
1784, William Jones, The Description and Use of a New Portable Orrery, &c., preface
Just under the ceiling there were three lunette windows, heavily barred and blacked out in the normal way by centuries of grime. Their bases were on a level with the pavement outside, a narrow way which was several feet lower than the road behind the house.
1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 14, in The China Governess
The solitary, lumbering trolls of Scandinavian mythology would sometimes be turned to stone by exposure to sunlight. Barack Obama is hoping that several measures announced on June 4th will have a similarly paralysing effect on their modern incarnation, the patent troll.
2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 55
adverb
not comparable
Quotations
Every kind of thing is laid up several in barns or storehouses.
1551, Thomas More, “(please specify the Internet Archive page)”, in Raphe Robynson [i.e., Ralph Robinson], transl., A Fruteful, and Pleasaunt Worke of the Best State of a Publyque Weale, and of the Newe Yle Called Utopia: […], London: […] [Steven Mierdman for] Abraham Vele, […]
noun
plural severals
Each particular taken singly; an item; a detail; an individual.