Severity

Severity describes the degree of seriousness or harm associated with a condition, event, or outcome. It is a relative concept, often contrasted with frequency or likelihood, and used across many disciplines to gauge potential impact and prioritize response.

In risk assessment and management, severity is one axis of a risk matrix. It measures potential consequences, from negligible to catastrophic, and is combined with probability to determine overall risk. Scales vary by field and may be qualitative (low, moderate, high) or quantitative (a numeric score).

In medicine, severity indicates how serious a disease, injury, or symptom is and helps guide treatment and prognosis. Severity classifications may be defined by guidelines or scoring systems that assess organ involvement, vital signs, or functional impairment.

In engineering, safety, and software, severity describes the impact of a fault, failure mode, or vulnerability. Defect-tracking and incident management use severity levels to prioritize remediation; common ranges include minor, major, severe, and critical.

In linguistics or other contexts, severity can describe intensity, stress, or emphasis, though this is less formal. Because severity is context dependent, definitions and thresholds vary, and standardized scales aim to improve communication and decision-making.