separate

[ verb sep-uh-reyt; adjective, noun sep-er-it ]

/ verb ˈsɛp əˌreɪt; adjective, noun ˈsɛp ər ɪt /

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verb (used with object), sep·a·rat·ed, sep·a·rat·ing.

to keep apart or divide, as by an intervening barrier or space: to separate two fields by a fence.

to put, bring, or force apart; part: to separate two fighting boys.

to set apart; disconnect; dissociate: to separate church and state.

to remove or sever from association, service, etc., especially legally or formally: He was separated from the army right after V-E Day.

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

to take by parting or dividing; extract (usually followed by from or out): to separate metal from ore.

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.Compare separation of variables.

verb (used without object), sep·a·rat·ed, sep·a·rat·ing.

to part company; withdraw from personal association (often followed by from): to separate from a church.

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

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

to become parted from a mass or compound: Cream separates from milk.

to take or go in different directions: We have to separate at the crossroad.

adjective

detached, disconnected, or disjoined.

unconnected; distinct; unique: two separate questions.

being or standing apart; distant or dispersed: two separate houses; The desert has widely separate oases.

existing or maintained independently: separate organizations.

individual or particular: each separate item.

not shared; individual or private: separate checks; separate rooms.

(sometimes initial capital letter) noting or pertaining to a church or other organization no longer associated with the original or parent organization.

noun

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.

offprint(def 1).

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.

Nearby words

sep., sepa, sepal, sepaloid, separable, separate, separate but equal, separate school, separate the men from the boys, separate the sheep from the goats, separate wheat from chaff

Origin of separate

1400–50; late Middle English (noun and adj.) < Latin sēparātus (past participle of sēparāre), equivalent to sē- se- + par(āre) to furnish, produce, obtain, prepare + -ātus -ate¹

SYNONYMS FOR separate

1, 2 sever, sunder, split. 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.

3 disjoin, disengage.

13 unattached, severed, discrete.

15 secluded, isolated.

16 independent.

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ANTONYMS FOR separate

1–3 unite, connect.

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Related forms

sep·a·rate·ly, adverbsep·a·rate·ness, nounnon·sep·a·rat·ing, adjectivepre·sep·a·rate, verb (used with object), pre·sep·a·rat·ed, pre·sep·a·rat·ing.

re·sep·a·rate, verb, re·sep·a·rat·ed, re·sep·a·rat·ing.un·sep·a·rate, adjectiveun·sep·a·rate·ly, adverbun·sep·a·rate·ness, nounun·sep·a·rat·ed, adjectiveun·sep·a·rat·ing, adjectivewell-sep·a·rat·ed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for separately

Many dance instructors register their classes at gyms and teach women or men (separately) under the name of aerobics.
Iran’s Becoming a Footloose Nation as Dance Lessons Spread|IranWire|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Or watch and listen while a horn player explains how the horn parts work together and separately in a particular passage.
Beguiling Books on Steroids Make Interactive Reading a Pleasure|Malcolm Jones|June 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The Farm Bill has passed the House and Senate separately but still has some debate ahead of it before it can be signed into law.
Supermarkets and Retailers Turn Blind Eye to Food Stamp Funding Cuts|Miranda Green|September 27, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Separately, troops raided Qaffin village north of Tulkarem and detained 21-year-old Abdullah Asaad Aqil.
Israeli Raids Give the Lie to Oslo’s Alphabet Soup|Emily L. Hauser|July 9, 2013|DAILY BEAST

To be sure, many Israelis are separately and together continuing to negotiate these questions.
Kaniuk's Parting Shot at Israeli Jewish Identity|Mira Sucharov|June 11, 2013|DAILY BEAST
She compelled him to take her in the plural, though he addressed her separately, but her tones had their music.
The Amazing Marriage, Complete|George Meredith
The titles, separately stereotyped, may change their order at command.
Smithsonian Report on the Construction of Catalogues of Libraries and their Publication by Means of Separate, Stereotyped Titles|Charles C. Jewett
Boil, separately, one chicken and four pounds of corned beef.
American Cookery|Various
The two questions cannot be wholly divorced, but clarity is promoted by considering them separately.
The Value of Money|Benjamin M. Anderson, Jr.
It was separately printed in England in 1849 as a small pamphlet, which is now a rare bibliographical curiosity.
The Letters of Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1 of 2)|Frederic G. Kenyon

British Dictionary definitions for separately

separate

verb (ˈsɛpəˌreɪt)

(tr) to act as a barrier betweena range of mountains separates the two countries

to put or force or be put or forced apart

to part or be parted from a mass or group

(tr) to discriminate betweento separate the men from the boys

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

to sever or be severed

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

adjective (ˈsɛprɪt, ˈsɛpərɪt)

existing or considered independentlya 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

Derived Forms

separately, adverbseparateness, noun

Word Origin for separate

C15: from Latin sēparāre, from sē- apart + parāre to obtain

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