Aus*ter"i*ty (?), n.; pl. Austplwies] (). [F. aust'erit'e, L. austerias, fr. austerus. See Austere.]
1.
Sourness and harshness to the taste.
[Obs.]
Horsley.
2.
Severity of manners or life; extreme rigor or strictness; harsh discipline.
The austerity of John the Baptist.
Milton.
3.
Plainness; freedom from adornment; severe simplicity.
Partly owing to the studied austerity of her dress, and partly to the lack of demonstration in her manners.
Hawthorne.
© Webster 1913.