several liability:分别责任 / 各自责任。指在同一损害或债务情形下,每个责任人只对自己应承担的那一部分负责,不需要为他人未支付或未履行的部分“兜底”。(常与 joint liability“共同责任”或 joint and several liability“连带责任”作对比。)
/ˈsɛv(ə)rəl ˌlaɪəˈbɪləti/
The contract states that the partners have several liability for their own debts.
合同规定合伙人对各自的债务承担分别责任。
Because the court imposed several liability, each defendant paid only the percentage of damages assigned to them.
由于法院适用分别责任,每名被告只需支付分配给其个人的那一部分损害赔偿比例。
several 原意与“分开、各自”相关,来自中古法语 several,并可追溯到拉丁语中表示“分离/区分”的词根;在法律语境里强调“分别的、各自的”。liability 来自 liable(应承担责任的),与法语 lier(绑定、约束)同源,体现“被法律义务所约束”的含义。合起来 several liability 就是“各自承担的法律责任”。