separate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to keep apart or divide, as by an intervening barrier or space.
to separate two fields by a fence.
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to put, bring, or force apart; part.
to separate two fighting boys.
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to set apart; disconnect; dissociate.
to separate church and state.
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to remove or sever from association, service, etc., especially legally or formally.
He was separated from the army right after V-E Day.
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to sort, part, divide, or disperse (an assemblage, mass, compound, etc.), as into individual units, components, or elements.
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to take by parting or dividing; extract (usually followed by from orout ).
to separate metal from ore.
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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.
verb (used without object)
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to part company; withdraw from personal association (often followed byfrom ).
to separate from a church.
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(of a married pair) to stop living together but without getting a divorce.
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to draw or come apart; become divided, disconnected, or detached.
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to become parted from a mass or compound.
Cream separates from milk.
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to take or go in different directions.
We have to separate at the crossroad.
adjective
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detached, disconnected, or disjoined.
- Synonyms:
- discrete, unattached
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unconnected; distinct; unique.
two separate questions.
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being or standing apart; distant or dispersed.
two separate houses;
The desert has widely separate oases.
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existing or maintained independently.
separate organizations.
- Synonyms:
- independent
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individual or particular.
each separate item.
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not shared; individual or private.
separate checks;
separate rooms.
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Sometimes Separate noting or relating to a church or other organization no longer associated with the original or parent organization.
noun
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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.
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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.
verb
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(tr) to act as a barrier between
a range of mountains separates the two countries
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to put or force or be put or forced apart
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to part or be parted from a mass or group
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(tr) to discriminate between
to separate the men from the boys
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to divide or be divided into component parts; sort or be sorted
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to sever or be severed
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(intr) (of a married couple) to cease living together by mutual agreement or after obtaining a decree of judicial separation
adjective
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existing or considered independently
a separate problem
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disunited or apart
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set apart from the main body or mass
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distinct, individual, or particular
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solitary or withdrawn
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(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
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separatenessnoun
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unseparatenessnoun
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reseparateverb
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preseparateverb (used with object)
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nonseparatingadjective
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unseparateadjective
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unseparatedadjective
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unseparatingadjective
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well-separatedadjective
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separatelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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separatesimple
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separatessimple
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have separatedperfect
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has separatedperfect
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am separatingprogressive
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are separatingprogressive
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is separatingprogressive
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have been separatingperfect progressive
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has been separatingperfect progressive
Past
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separatedsimple
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had separatedperfect
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was separatingprogressive
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were separatingprogressive
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had been separatingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing separate
"The Civil Rights Movement"
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"All Summer in a Day" by Ray Bradbury
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Remote Learning: Synonyms for "Far"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The author’s purpose is not to define Hitchcock, but to champion him in the debate over the question, “can we separate the art from the artist?”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
Both Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton stuck to familiar themes in their separate speeches to Latino leaders in downtown L.A. as they jockey for position in the California governor’s race.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
The new agreement calls for all sides to immediately halt military operations, and for an International Stabilization Force to separate Israeli troops from NCAG-controlled areas.
From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026
For years, policymakers have treated the nation’s fiscal challenges as separate debates.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026
And that’s when we have a hotel suite with at least one separate bedroom.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
What separates Dean from the U.K. pop-soul tradition she emerged from, though, is the simple fact that she has hits.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
This approach allowed the team to obtain the companion's spectrum, which separates light into its component colors.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 28, 2026
That distinction is what separates these trips from ordinary vacations.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 24, 2026
Separately on Tuesday, China’s newest aircraft carrier, the Fujian, sailed through the Taiwan Strait, its second voyage since December through the 100-mile-wide waterway that separates Taiwan’s main island from the Asian mainland.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026
Anise Fowler moves to a different island, and the pack of hyenas slowly separates, and suddenly I find that I’m sitting at lunch tables where there are other people.
From "Hurricane Child" by Kheryn Callender
Prison staff reportedly separated the two men and Combs was placed in solitary confinement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
I’d planned to attend the gathering as an observer, a journalist who covers careers and management, comfortable that my notebook and pen separated me from the others.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
Rather than being the work of a single artist during one visit, the mask may preserve multiple episodes of artistic activity separated by thousands of years.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026
He became involved in an argument with them and they were separated by security staff.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
It was a wonky shape, but it had been wedged in the glass wall that had separated this world from the magical one.
From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova
At Lakehouse, the interns spent two hours on “Mission KPMG,” a scavenger hunt with eight activities, including separating AI-generated fact from fiction, as well as matching the firm’s AI tools to the best-use case.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Roberts, who has also talked about separating the visit from politics, kept his review brief.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
Child psychologists had previously told the BBC that separating young children from their caregivers could have a lifelong impact on their mental health.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
They showed fewer signs of separating or becoming unusually thick.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 20, 2026
Claiborne Paul Ellis, known to everyone as C.P., lived just a weed patch north of the railroad tracks separating white Durham from black.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
