separate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to keep apart or divide, as by an intervening barrier or space.
to separate two fields by a fence.
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to put, bring, or force apart; part.
to separate two fighting boys.
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to set apart; disconnect; dissociate.
to separate church and state.
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to remove or sever from association, service, etc., especially legally or formally.
He was separated from the army right after V-E Day.
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to sort, part, divide, or disperse (an assemblage, mass, compound, etc.), as into individual units, components, or elements.
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to take by parting or dividing; extract (usually followed by from orout ).
to separate metal from ore.
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Mathematics. to write (the variables of a differential equation) in a form in which the differentials of the independent and dependent variables are, respectively, functions of these variables alone.
We can separate the variables to solve the equation.
verb (used without object)
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to part company; withdraw from personal association (often followed byfrom ).
to separate from a church.
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(of a married pair) to stop living together but without getting a divorce.
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to draw or come apart; become divided, disconnected, or detached.
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to become parted from a mass or compound.
Cream separates from milk.
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to take or go in different directions.
We have to separate at the crossroad.
adjective
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detached, disconnected, or disjoined.
- Synonyms:
- discrete, unattached
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unconnected; distinct; unique.
two separate questions.
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being or standing apart; distant or dispersed.
two separate houses;
The desert has widely separate oases.
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existing or maintained independently.
separate organizations.
- Synonyms:
- independent
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individual or particular.
each separate item.
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not shared; individual or private.
separate checks;
separate rooms.
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Sometimes Separate noting or relating to a church or other organization no longer associated with the original or parent organization.
noun
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Usually separates women's outer garments that may be worn in combination with a variety of others to make different ensembles, as matching and contrasting blouses, skirts, and sweaters.
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a bibliographical unit, as an article, chapter, or other portion of a larger work, printed from the same type but issued separately, sometimes with additional pages.
verb
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(tr) to act as a barrier between
a range of mountains separates the two countries
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to put or force or be put or forced apart
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to part or be parted from a mass or group
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(tr) to discriminate between
to separate the men from the boys
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to divide or be divided into component parts; sort or be sorted
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to sever or be severed
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(intr) (of a married couple) to cease living together by mutual agreement or after obtaining a decree of judicial separation
adjective
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existing or considered independently
a separate problem
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disunited or apart
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set apart from the main body or mass
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distinct, individual, or particular
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solitary or withdrawn
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(sometimes capital) designating or relating to a Church or similar institution that has ceased to have associations with an original parent organization
Synonym Usage
Separate, divide imply a putting apart or keeping apart of things from each other. To separate is to remove from each other things previously associated: to separate a mother from her children. To divide is to split or break up carefully according to measurement, rule, or plan: to divide a cake into equal parts.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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separatenessnoun
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unseparatenessnoun
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reseparateverb
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preseparateverb (used with object)
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nonseparatingadjective
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unseparateadjective
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unseparatedadjective
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unseparatingadjective
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well-separatedadjective
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separatelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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separatesimple
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separatessimple
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have separatedperfect
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has separatedperfect
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am separatingprogressive
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are separatingprogressive
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is separatingprogressive
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have been separatingperfect progressive
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has been separatingperfect progressive
Past
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separatedsimple
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had separatedperfect
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was separatingprogressive
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were separatingprogressive
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had been separatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of separate
First recorded in 1400–50; from late Middle English (noun and adjective), from Latin sēparātus, past participle of sēparāre, equivalent to sē- se- + parāre “to furnish, produce, obtain”; see prepare
Explanation
Things that are separate are kept apart from other things. A married couple heading for divorce might eat breakfast at separate tables. You can use the adjective separate to describe something that is thought of as different or not related to other things. The adjective is from the Latin prefix se- "apart" plus parare "to prepare." Separate is also used as a verb, pronounced "SEP-uh-rate." Separate is one of the most commonly misspelled words, so beware of the erroneous spelling, seperate.
Vocabulary lists containing separate
"The Civil Rights Movement"
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"All Summer in a Day" by Ray Bradbury
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Remote Learning: Synonyms for "Far"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"Many deaths feared after strong earthquake wreaks havoc in southern Japan" says the paper in a separate headline, next to a birds-eye shot of a partially fallen bridge.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
Demand for mortgages to finance purchases of vacation homes has picked up considerably over the last year, according to a separate analysis of federal data by real-estate brokerage Redfin.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026
U.S. troops are posted to a Jordanian base near the Syrian border and at a separate air base in the desert where an Iranian missile strike killed two American servicemembers earlier this month.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
The new private entity would manage its Golden Globes assets while maintaining the charitable and philanthropic programs in a separate nonprofit entity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
It was only a matter of time before the two groups, bringing word of separate attacks, met in the streets.
From "Chasing Lincoln's Killer" by James L. Swanson
This approach allowed the team to obtain the companion's spectrum, which separates light into its component colors.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 28, 2026
The rupture, Schmitz said, raced up from the valley down to the sea, where movement was transferred to the San Sebastián fault, which separates the Caribbean plate from the South American plate.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 27, 2026
That distinction is what separates these trips from ordinary vacations.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 24, 2026
Separately on Tuesday, China’s newest aircraft carrier, the Fujian, sailed through the Taiwan Strait, its second voyage since December through the 100-mile-wide waterway that separates Taiwan’s main island from the Asian mainland.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026
I walk up the three steps to the altar and step over the small railing that separates the masses from all that is sacred.
From "The Adoration of Jenna Fox" by Mary E. Pearson
I’d planned to attend the gathering as an observer, a journalist who covers careers and management, comfortable that my notebook and pen separated me from the others.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
The researchers examined molecules in the gas phase, where they were separated from outside influences such as solvents and surfaces.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026
"There is also concern about families being separated."
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
There are lots of parallels between these two stories: family members getting separated from loved ones, then turning to the courts, specifically to habeas corpus petitions, to claim that the separation is unlawful.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
More than a million people were still separated from their families by the Berlin Wall.
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
Roberts, who has also talked about separating the visit from politics, kept his review brief.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
Critics also argue that there is no scientific evidence that separating from a close relative is inherently beneficial.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
They showed fewer signs of separating or becoming unusually thick.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 20, 2026
“The goal of separating the publication of the report from our earnings results is to keep the focus on our primary financial metrics — revenue and operating profit,” Netflix said in its letter to shareholders.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 16, 2026
And then a second later, the door in front of them buzzed and clicked open, separating a good inch from the doorframe.
From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
