In testing terminology, what does the term 'defect severity' refer to?

Defect severity refers to the impact that a defect has on the functionality of the system. It is a critical concept in software testing because it helps prioritize defects based on their effect on the application and user experience. When a defect is classified according to its severity, it allows development teams to focus on issues that could lead to system failures, significant functionality loss, or poor user experience first.

For example, a critical defect that crashes the application is given a high severity rating because it renders the application unusable, while a minor cosmetic issue would have a lower severity because it does not affect the core functionality.

The other terms do not align with the definition of defect severity. Likelihood refers to how often a defect may occur, frequency pertains to the rate of occurrence over time, and ease of fixing involves how straightforward it is to resolve the defect rather than the defect's impact on the system. Each of these aspects plays a role in defect management and repair prioritization but does not define the severity itself.