separate

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

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

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See synonyms for: separate / separated / separates / separating on Thesaurus.com

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.

OTHER WORDS FOR separate

1, 2 sever, sunder, split.

3 disjoin, disengage.

13 unattached, severed, discrete.

15 secluded, isolated.

16 independent.

See synonyms for separate on Thesaurus.com

OPPOSITES FOR separate

1-3 unite, connect.

See antonyms for separate on Thesaurus.com

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Origin of separate

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English (noun and adjective), from Latin sēparātus (past participle of sēparāre), equivalent to sē-se- + par(āre) “to furnish, produce, obtain,” + -ātus;see prepare -ate¹

synonym study for separate

1, 2. 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 WORDS FROM separate

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. 2023

How to use separate in a sentence

If you’re editing a photo shot in portrait mode, there’s also a Color Pop option—it uses depth information to separate the foreground from the background, saturating the former while desaturating the latter.
Google Photos is better at image editing than you think|Harry Guinness|November 17, 2020|Popular-Science
A separate group of researchers at Harvard also developed a mathematical model on Covid-19 transmission risk on airplanes, based on what’s known about ventilation systems.
How risky is air travel in the pandemic? Here’s what the science says.|Brian Resnick|November 12, 2020|Vox
After all of the secrecy envelopes have been separated from their mail-in counterparts, they are opened en masse to protect voters’ right to privacy.
A Pennsylvania poll worker explains the painstaking process of counting votes|Kyle Brashear|November 12, 2020|Vox
When the two streams met, they separated into filaments of current, just as expected, producing magnetic fields of 30 tesla, about 20 times the strength of the magnetic fields in many MRI machines.
Giant lasers help re-create supernovas’ explosive, mysterious physics|Emily Conover|November 12, 2020|Science News

Each of us is now settled down in our separate corners of America, but the belief we share in our nation binds us forever.
To honor veterans and make the country stronger, expand the JROTC|matthewheimer|November 11, 2020|Fortune
Placing an undue emphasis on our ‘separateness’ is a step backward.
Fringe Factor: Penn. Health Dept. Says Gays Are Like 12 Year Olds|Caitlin Dickson|September 1, 2013|DAILY BEAST
I understood why she had kept such hold upon me through years of separateness.
Lazarre|Mary Hartwell Catherwood
The purpose of the writer is to teach the entire separateness of Christs atonement.
The Expositor's Bible: The Epistle to the Hebrews|Thomas Charles Edwards
Both are inconsistent with the perfect separateness of Christs atonement.
The Expositor's Bible: The Epistle to the Hebrews|Thomas Charles Edwards
The former typified our participation in Christs death, the latter the separateness of Christs death.
The Expositor's Bible: The Epistle to the Hebrews|Thomas Charles Edwards
Either mood was unpleasing to him; it contained tacit reproach for his separateness.
The Wayfarers|Mary Stewart Cutting

British Dictionary definitions for separate

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 of separate

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

separate

OTHER WORDS FOR separate

OPPOSITES FOR separate

Origin of separate

synonym study for separate

OTHER WORDS FROM separate

Words related to separate

How to use separate in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for separate

Derived forms of separate

Word Origin for separate