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separate

American  

[sep-uh-rayt, 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

The legislation put forward in Congress on Friday was divided into two separate decrees.

From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026

Medical helicopter flights land and depart not from the airport but from a separate location: a heliport on Pebbly Beach, just steps from the ocean.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026

Lagos, for its part, still retains its own, separate fashion week.

From Barron's ● Oct. 3, 2026

"Roman doesn't have a separate guider instrument, like other space telescopes do," Vila said.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 2, 2026

“I think Fenix, Fūjin, and Fulgora are all separate parts of the same company. One that likes to name things after gods and other mythological creatures. I think the three victims are actually one victim.”

From "City Spies" by James Ponti

In June, business applications from Gen Z customers grew disproportionately from a year earlier, Bowley said, as did payments to open limited-liability companies, a business structure that separates personal and financial assets and liabilities.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026

Sliced Bread separates science fact from the marketing fiction.

From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026

“One thing that separates him from a lot of other leaders ... he’s the same person, each and every day, consistently great at everything he does,” said reserve quarterback DJ Uiagalelei.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2026

Liquid chromatography separates the many different chemicals in a mixture so that researchers can study them individually.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026

Pa then separates the meat from the bones and cuts the flesh into very thin slices to soak in the lime juice that Ma has prepared.

From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung

Corteva itself was a spinoff, having separated from DowDuPont in 2019.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026

Lynas, which has a market value of roughly $9 billion, is the biggest producer of separated rare earths outside China.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

“Education cannot be separated from the basic needs that allow students to participate in it,” she said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

While limited to greetings and updates, this will provide a rare lifeline for families separated by the blackout.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

Over the course of the decade, a series of space missions confirmed that the idea of having a launch vehicle that separated from the mother ship would, in fact, work.

From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson

In a Friday post on X, Pope Leo took a definitive stance separating human capabilities from those of AI.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 2, 2026

The U.S. bond market reversed course Thursday, as investors started separating perceived winners from losers among the debt of developed countries.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

Paul Turner of Birmingham is separating himself from all City Section receivers with his big-play catching ability.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026

"You see the water there?" he said, gesturing at the Gulf separating the UAE from the coasts of southern Iran.

From Barron's ● Sep. 13, 2026

When the ladies were separating for the toilette, he said to Elizabeth—

From "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen

Related Words

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