separation

[ sep-uh-rey-shuh n ]

/ ˌsɛp əˈreɪ ʃən /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR separation ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

an act or instance of separating or the state of being separated.

a place, line, or point of parting.

a gap, hole, rent, or the like.

something that separates or divides.

Law.

cessation of conjugal cohabitation, as by mutual consent.
judicial separation.

Aerospace. the time or act of releasing a burned-out stage of a rocket or missile from the remainder.

Photography. separation negative.

Nearby words

separate the men from the boys, separate the sheep from the goats, separate wheat from chaff, separates, separating funnel, separation, separation anxiety, separation center, separation energy, separation negative, separation of church and state

Origin of separation

1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin sēparātiōn- (stem of sēparātiō), equivalent to sēparāt(us) separate + -iōn- -ion

Related forms

non·sep·a·ra·tion, nounpre·sep·a·ra·tion, nounre·sep·a·ra·tion, noun

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

Examples from the Web for separation

Enter Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which threatened to sue.
In Florida, ’Tis The Season for Satan|Jay Michaelson|December 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But the second thing is the way this city has changed in recent years, the intensification of the separation.
Mass Murder in the Holy City|Michael Tomasky|November 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But does John accept Brenda the wife and Brenda the professional after two full years of separation?
Cameroonian Women Fighting Sexism With Tourism|Abena Agyeman-Fisher|November 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Thanks again to the Founding Fathers for the separation of powers!
In North Carolina, GOP Overreach May Be More Unpopular Than Obama|Dean Obeidallah|November 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST

The hero first enters a period known as separation, where he leaves his past and enters a new life of adventure.
The Walking Dead’s Luke Skywalker: Rick Grimes Is the Perfect Modern-Day Mythical Hero|Regina Lizik|October 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The intention is present of separating (or effecting a separation) from the injured spouse.
Ifugao Law|R. F. Burton
But his brothers, hearing him speak of the homeless life, felt their hearts grieved with the apprehension of separation.
The Gtakaml|rya Sra
The elevation of temperature within certain limits, hastens the separation.
Domestic Animals|Richard L. Allen
Wool freshly shorn or in any other way separated from the skin shall also be subject to seizure immediately upon its separation.
Current History, Vol. VIII, No. 3, June 1918|Various
She could not decide how far the public was to be told the truth about the poet's separation from his wife.
Night and Day|Virginia Woolf

British Dictionary definitions for separation

separation

/ (ˌsɛpəˈreɪʃən) /

noun

the act of separating or state of being separated

the place or line where a separation is made

a gap that separates

family law the cessation of cohabitation between a man and wife, either by mutual agreement or under a decree of a courtCompare judicial separation, divorce

the act of jettisoning a burnt-out stage of a multistage rocket
the instant at which such a stage is jettisoned

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