Severance
Black's Law Dictionary · Henry Campbell Black, M.A. · 1910
Black's Law Dictionary
In pleading. Separation; division. The separation by defendants in their picas; the adoption, by several defendants, of separate pleas, instead of joining in the same plea. Steph. PI.
257.
In estates. The destruction of any one of the unities of a joint tenancy. It is so called because the estate is no longer a joint tenancy, but is severed. The word "severance" is also used to signify the catting of the crops, such as corn, grass, etc., or the separating of anything from the realty.
Brown.