separate

American  

[sep-uh-reyt, sep-er-it] / ˈsɛp əˌreɪt, ˈsɛp ər ɪt /

verb (used with object)

• separates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• separated,
  past participle,  past
• separating
  present participle

1. to keep apart or divide, as by an intervening barrier or space.

   to separate two fields by a fence.

   Synonyms:

   split, sunder, sever

   Antonyms:

   connect, unite

2. to put, bring, or force apart; part.

   to separate two fighting boys.

   Synonyms:

   split, sunder, sever

   Antonyms:

   connect, unite

3. to set apart; disconnect; dissociate.

   to separate church and state.

   Synonyms:

   disengage, disjoin

   Antonyms:

   connect, unite

4. to remove or sever from association, service, etc., especially legally or formally.

   He was separated from the army right after V-E Day.

5. to sort, part, divide, or disperse (an assemblage, mass, compound, etc.), as into individual units, components, or elements.

6. to take by parting or dividing; extract (usually followed by from orout ).

   to separate metal from ore.

7. 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.

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verb (used without object)

• separates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• separated,
  past participle,  past
• separating
  present participle

1. to part company; withdraw from personal association (often followed byfrom ).

   to separate from a church.

2. (of a married pair) to stop living together but without getting a divorce.

3. to draw or come apart; become divided, disconnected, or detached.

4. to become parted from a mass or compound.

   Cream separates from milk.

5. to take or go in different directions.

   We have to separate at the crossroad.

adjective

1. detached, disconnected, or disjoined.

   Synonyms:

   discrete, unattached

2. unconnected; distinct; unique.

   two separate questions.

3. being or standing apart; distant or dispersed.

   two separate houses;

   The desert has widely separate oases.

   Synonyms:

   isolated, secluded

4. existing or maintained independently.

   separate organizations.

   Synonyms:

   independent

5. individual or particular.

   each separate item.

6. not shared; individual or private.

   separate checks;

   separate rooms.

7. Sometimes Separate noting or relating to a church or other organization no longer associated with the original or parent organization.

noun

1. 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.

2. offprint.

3. 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.

separate British  

verb

1. (tr) to act as a barrier between

   a range of mountains separates the two countries

2. to put or force or be put or forced apart

3. to part or be parted from a mass or group

4. (tr) to discriminate between

   to separate the men from the boys

5. to divide or be divided into component parts; sort or be sorted

6. to sever or be severed

7. (intr) (of a married couple) to cease living together by mutual agreement or after obtaining a decree of judicial separation

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adjective

1. existing or considered independently

   a separate problem

2. disunited or apart

3. set apart from the main body or mass

4. distinct, individual, or particular

5. solitary or withdrawn

6. (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

• separateness
  noun
• unseparateness
  noun
• reseparate
  verb
• preseparate
  verb (used with object)
• nonseparating
  adjective
• unseparate
  adjective
• unseparated
  adjective
• unseparating
  adjective
• well-separated
  adjective
• separately
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• separating
  present
• separated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• separate
  simple
• separates
  simple
• have separated
  perfect
• has separated
  perfect
• am separating
  progressive
• are separating
  progressive
• is separating
  progressive
• have been separating
  perfect progressive
• has been separating
  perfect progressive

Past

• separated
  simple
• had separated
  perfect
• was separating
  progressive
• were separating
  progressive
• had been separating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will separate
  simple
• will have separated
  perfect
• will be separating
  progressive
• will have been separating
  perfect progressive

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

separate separates separated separating

Instead of relying mainly on separate individual burials, people increasingly arranged bodies vertically.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 19, 2026

Clear Spring Life and Annuity Co., another Delaware insurer Walter controls through TWG, said that it cut related transactions by $90 million, in a separate filing Tuesday.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

It is also unclear how far the Assad regime got in assembling a capability to separate plutonium and turn it into a form that can be used in a nuclear weapon.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

The reader is asking a lot: finding a workable way to separate routine healthcare expenses from genuinely catastrophic ones.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026

“Lou Ann. Please, I’ll do anything you ask. Please don’t separate Boo and me,” I beg.

From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko

"It almost separates the people who have created music properly from the people just using AI," says guitarist Winn, who plays in the North East band Swindled.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

MarketWatch: What separates a bold investment from a reckless one?

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026

A spectrum separates light into its component wavelengths, allowing astronomers to investigate the chemistry and motion of distant objects.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 23, 2026

What separates Dean from the U.K. pop-soul tradition she emerged from, though, is the simple fact that she has hits.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026

Brick buildings loom from each side, but behind him is the door, the door that separates me from my father and brother.

From "Insurgent" by Veronica Roth

The living area exudes class thanks to it dual seating areas, which are separated by a fireplace and piano.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026

The team also separated the light coming from the galaxy itself from the light produced by its nucleus and examined whether the object emitted X-rays.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 17, 2026

Asked who would have had the other dogs if the couple had separated, she again replied: "Josh."

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 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

Hearn has maintained that he merely touched material that was already separating from the surface and did not cause any damage.

From Salon ● Aug. 1, 2026

“Everybody longs for connections, even though the world we live in is separating us as fast as possible,” said Pascal.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

I was going to ask more, but then I heard Sohrab’s mom let out a cry and charge across the sea of Bahramis separating her from her target.

From "Darius the Great Is Not Okay" by Adib Khorram

Related Words

• autonomous
• different
• distinct
• diverse
• free
• independent
• particular
• single
• unique
• various