Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

apart

[uh-pahrt]
See more synonyms for apart on Thesaurus.com
adverb
  1. into pieces or parts; to pieces: to take a watch apart; an old barn falling apart from decay.
  2. separately in place, time, motion, etc.: New York and Tokyo are thousands of miles apart. Our birthdays are three days apart.
  3. to or at one side, with respect to place, purpose, or function: to put money apart for education; to keep apart from the group out of pride.
  4. separately or individually in consideration: each factor viewed apart from the others.
  5. aside (used with a gerund or noun): Joking apart, what do you think?
Show More
adjective
  1. having independent or unique qualities, features, or characteristics (usually used following the noun it modifies): a class apart.
Show More
Verb Phrases
  1. take apart,
    1. to disassemble: to take a clock apart.
    2. Informal.to criticize; attack: She was taken apart for her controversial stand.
    3. to subject to intense examination: He will take your feeble excuses apart.
Show More
Idioms
  1. apart from, aside from; in addition to; besides: Apart from other considerations, time is a factor.
Show More

Origin of apart

1350–1400; Middle English < Old French a part to one side. See a-5, part
Related formsa·part·ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

asideafaralonealoofawaydisconnecteddistantdistinctexclusivelyfreelyindependentindependentlyindividuallyisolatedseparatedseparatelysinglyspecial

Examples from the Web for apart

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • They were apart from the others and for the moment unnoticed.

    The Spenders

    Harry Leon Wilson

  • I am considering them apart, and confining myself wholly to the words of the song.

  • At any rate, the fact is that she was not buried with him, but apart from him; he had seen to that.

  • He has got to paint them so you can tell them apart the minute you look at them, hain't he?

    Tom Sawyer Abroad

    Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)

  • Only this, she and another were like one, always, apart from the others.

    Green Mansions

    W. H. Hudson

British Dictionary definitions for apart

apart

adjective, adverb (postpositive)
  1. to pieces or in pieceshe had the television apart on the floor
  2. placed or kept separately or to one side for a particular purpose, reason, etc; aside (esp in the phrases set or put apart)
  3. separate in time, place, or position; at a distancehe stood apart from the group; two points three feet apart
  4. not being taken into account; asidethese difficulties apart, the project ran smoothly
  5. individual; distinct; separatea race apart
  6. separately or independently in use, thought, or functionconsidered apart, his reasoning was faulty
  7. apart from (preposition) besides; other than
Show More
See also take apart, tell apart

Word Origin

C14: from Old French a part at (the) side
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for apart

adv.

late 14c., from Old French à part "to the side," from Latin ad "to" (see ad-) + partem, accusative of pars "a side" (see part (n.)).

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with apart

apart

In addition to the idiom beginning with apart

  • apart from

also see:

  • come apart
  • fall apart
  • pick apart
  • poles apart
  • set apart
  • take apart
  • tear apart
  • tell apart
Show More
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.