separation

American  

[sep-uh-rey-shuhn] / ˌsɛp əˈreɪ ʃən /

noun

separations plural

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

2. a place, line, or point of parting.

3. a gap, hole, rent, or the like.

4. something that separates or divides.

5. Law.

   1. cessation of conjugal cohabitation, as by mutual consent.

   2. judicial separation.

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

7. Photography. separation negative.

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separation British  

/ ˌsɛpəˈreɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of separating or state of being separated

2. the place or line where a separation is made

3. a gap that separates

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

5. 1. the act of jettisoning a burnt-out stage of a multistage rocket

   2. the instant at which such a stage is jettisoned

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonseparation
  noun
• preseparation
  noun
• reseparation
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• separations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of separation

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

Explanation

When two things that were together come apart, it's a separation, whether they're the two halves of your Oreo or a married couple splitting up. If you leave your beloved cat to go to college, it's a separation — the two of you are parting ways, at least for a little while. The root is the Latin word separare, which means "to pull apart." A separation from someone you care about can be hard, but the trickiest thing about separation is remembering how to spell it. One common trick is to keep in mind that there's "a rat" in the middle of the word.

Example Sentences

But she was assured that he was handling the separation.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 12, 2026

"Our membranes show almost ten times better separation performance compared to existing technologies, while remaining flexible, stable, and scalable," he said.

From Science Daily • Jun. 12, 2026

Bloom, who shares daughter Daisy with Perry, later broke his silence on their separation, telling “Today” host Craig Melvin during a September interview that everything between them is “great.”

From MarketWatch • Jun. 12, 2026

In its case, the material would be sent to a separation plant operated by the Franco-Belgian chemicals company Solvay.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 9, 2026

We were the only boy-girl pair, and as we grew older, Mami and Mundín's mother, Tía Carmen, encouraged a separation between us.

From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez

Related Words

• departure
• disengagement
• dissolution
• divorce
• estrangement
• partition
• segregation
• split