segregate

[ verb seg-ri-geyt; noun seg-ri-git, -geyt ]

verb (used with object)

, seg·re·gat·ed, seg·re·gat·ing.

1. to separate or set apart from others or from the main body or group; isolate:

   to segregate exceptional children; to segregate hardened criminals.

   Antonyms: integrate

2. to require, by law or custom, the separation of (an ethnic, racial, religious, or other minority group) from the dominant majority.

verb (used without object)

, seg·re·gat·ed, seg·re·gat·ing.

1. to separate, withdraw, or go apart; separate from the main body and collect in one place; become segregated.
2. to practice, require, or enforce segregation, especially racial segregation.
3. Genetics. (of allelic genes) to separate during meiosis.

noun

1. a segregated thing, person, or group.

segregate

/ ˈsɛɡrɪɡəbəl; ˈsɛɡrɪˌɡeɪt /

verb

1. to set or be set apart from others or from the main group
2. tr to impose segregation on (a racial or minority group)
3. genetics metallurgy to undergo or cause to undergo segregation

Derived Forms

• ˈsegreˌgator, noun
• segregable, adjective
• ˈsegreˌgative, adjective

Other Words From

• seg·re·ga·ble [seg, -ri-g, uh, -b, uh, l], adjective
• segre·gative adjective
• non·segre·ga·ble adjective
• non·segre·gative adjective
• re·segre·gate verb resegregated resegregating
• un·segre·ga·ble adjective
• un·segre·gating adjective
• un·segre·gative adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of segregate¹

1400–50 in sense “segregated”; 1535–45 as transitive v.; late Middle English segregat < Latin sēgregātus (past participle of sēgregāre to part from the flock), equivalent to sē- se- + greg- (stem of grex flock) + -ātus -ate ¹; gregarious

Word History and Origins

Origin of segregate¹

C16: from Latin sēgregāre, from sē- apart + grex a flock

Example Sentences

Americans even segregate politically, leading to 90-10 voting patterns in thousands of precincts.

From The Daily Beast

They will do much more than segregate parks and bakeries, which they are already doing.

From The Daily Beast

The men and women largely self-segregate into gendered rows as is common in synagogue.

From The Daily Beast

You segregate all of your other second-class citizens and pretend you have Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité, but you do not.

From The Daily Beast

Even one of the Brookings scholars told me that the Brotherhood would probably segregate the sexes.

From The Daily Beast

Thus, to trace it, the autopsy doctors would have to find, separate or segregate a billionth bit of the mass under observation.

From Project Gutenberg

No attempt is made to segregate the entries by year, since we are interested in the total, not the annual increment.

From Project Gutenberg

Any motive that will not so segregate men and break up all other bonds cannot be said to be a very fertile cause of war.

From Project Gutenberg

It was this “shadow of a sickness,” that served to segregate Margaret to the extent that was really necessary for her well being.

From Project Gutenberg

He meant to fence off side canyons and to segregate droves of his hogs, and to raise abundance of corn for winter feed.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• disconnect
• divide
• insulate
• isolate
• sequester
• single out