separate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
separates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
separated,
past participle, past
-
separating
present participle
-
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)
-
separates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
separated,
past participle, past
-
separating
present participle
-
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.
-
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
-
disunited or apart
-
set apart from the main body or mass
-
distinct, individual, or particular
-
solitary or withdrawn
-
(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
-
preseparateverb (used with object)
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nonseparatingadjective
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unseparateadjective
-
unseparatedadjective
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unseparatingadjective
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well-separatedadjective
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separatelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
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
-
have been separatingperfect progressive
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has been separatingperfect progressive
Past
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separatedsimple
-
had separatedperfect
-
was separatingprogressive
-
were separatingprogressive
-
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:
Brazil was also impacted under a separate global tariff regime against US trading partners accused of using forced labor.
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
Kevin Jonas also shared one way the podcast has shifted the tour logistics: “We usually have three separate rooms, but now we’re like, ‘We need the podcast room.’
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
The analysis also suggests that the vessel received four to five separate batches of coating over time.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026
It said NRW was investigating a separate potential source of pollution entering the Tywi and as those investigations remain ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment further.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
The family eventually disperses and files into four separate cars before heading out from the airport.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
"When that is the focus, there's more that we have in common than we have that separates us," he said.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
The breakwater that separates Ceuta from Morocco, long regarded as ineffective, was left just as it was.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
One of the most important is the gate dielectric, which electrically separates the gate electrode from the transistor channel.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 9, 2026
MarketWatch: What separates people who want to be rich from those who actually become rich?
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
Before I know what I’m doing, I’m three-quarters of the way across the wide strip of green that separates my driveway from Jupe's.
From "Odd One Out" by Nic Stone
The pair then separated and security footage showed a vehicle matching Williams' car parked on Yarmouth Road, near Catherine Gardens, minutes before Tania was attacked.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
The researchers reasoned that nanoparticles could be separated from the reaction mixture through centrifugation, which could make it easier to recover the DNA afterward.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 19, 2026
The living area exudes class thanks to it dual seating areas, which are separated by a fireplace and piano.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026
Although the friends were separated on this leg, having each taken the route at their own pace, they reunite at Pine Mountain General Store in Pine Mountain Club.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
And now, here she is, separated from Novaliches by land and sea, with warm food and a comfortable mattress and hot and cold water, available whenever she needs it.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
"Our nation's bedrock principle of separating church and state means that families and faith communities -- not politicians -- get to decide what role religion plays in children's lives," Kempf said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026
As transistor components approach atomic dimensions, however, the interfaces separating different materials become increasingly important.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 9, 2026
That means migrants cannot freely cross the 9 miles of water separating them from continental Europe.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
In the second quarter, the company worked to make its AI lending models better at separating low-risk customers from high-risk customers, according to CEO Paul Gu.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026
My father hung a blanket in the middle of the room, separating the six in our family from the Luftigs.
From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson
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.
