This rare noun can mean either 'generosity' or, in New Testament usage, 'harsh treatment' or 'severity.' Paul uses it in Colossians 2:23 to critique ascetic practices that have 'an appearance of wisdom' but involve 'harsh treatment of the body' (ἀφειδία σώματος). The term captures the self-inflicted rigor of those who punish the flesh in pursuit of spiritual merit. Paradoxically, such unsparing severity toward the body is 'of no value against fleshly indulgence'—it cannot curb the appetites it seeks to mortify. Paul exposes the futility of self-imposed austerity divorced from Christ.