Noun

Severity of manners or life; extreme rigor or strictness; harsh discipline.

Freedom from adornment; plainness; severe simplicity.

(economics) A policy of deficit-cutting, which by definition requires lower spending, higher taxes, or both.

* {{quote-news

, year=2012 , date=April 23 , author=Angelique Chrisafis , title=François Hollande on top but far right scores record result in French election , work=the Guardian citation , page= , passage=He said France clearly wanted to "close one page and open another". He reiterated his opposition to austerity alone as the only way out of Europe's crisis: "My final duty, and I know I'm being watched from beyond our borders, is to put Europe back on the path of growth and employment."}}

(obsolete) Sourness and harshness to the taste.

Noun

(en noun)

conscientiousness or determination or perseverance when doing something

A public stage-coach. (19th century, now used only in reference to France or other European countries including Great Britain.)

* 1818 , , Volume 1, Chapter V:

Continuing thus, I came at length opposite to the inn at which the various diligences and carriages usually stopped.

* {{quote-book

, year=1879 , author= , title= , passage=Being in a civilised country of stage-coaches, I determined to sell my lady friend and be off by the diligence that afternoon.}}

(legal, Scotland) The process by which persons, lands, or effects are seized for debt; process for enforcing the attendance of witnesses or the production of writings.