isolate

[verb ahy-suh-leyt; noun, adjective ahy-suh-lit, -leyt]

verb (used with object), i·so·lat·ed, i·so·lat·ing.

to set or place apart; detach or separate so as to be alone.

Medicine/Medical. to keep (an infected person) from contact with noninfected persons; quarantine.

Chemistry, Bacteriology. to obtain (a substance or microorganism) in an uncombined or pure state.

Electricity. to insulate.

Television. to single out (a person, action, etc.) for a camera closeup.

noun

a person, thing, or group that is set apart or isolated, as for purposes of study.

Psychology. a person, often shy or lacking in social skills, who avoids the company of others and has no friends within a group.

Biology. an inbreeding population that is isolated from similar populations by physiological, behavioral, or geographic barriers.

Also called language isolate. Linguistics. a language with no demonstrable genetic relationship, as Basque.

something that has been isolated, as a by-product in a manufacturing process: an isolate of soy flour.

adjective

isolated; alone.

Origin of isolate

First recorded in 1800–10; back formation from isolated

Related formsi·so·la·tor, nounre·i·so·late, verb (used with object), re·i·so·lat·ed, re·i·so·lat·ing.un·i·so·late, verb (used with object), un·i·so·lat·ed, un·i·so·lat·ing.

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

British Dictionary definitions for unisolated

isolate

verb (ˈaɪsəˌleɪt) (tr)

to place apart; cause to be alone

med to quarantine (a person or animal) having or suspected of having a contagious disease

to obtain (a compound) in an uncombined form

to obtain pure cultures of (bacteria, esp those causing a particular disease)

electronics to prevent interaction between (circuits, components, etc); insulate

noun (ˈaɪsəlɪt)

an isolated person or group

Derived Formsisolable, adjectiveisolability, nounisolator, noun

Word Origin for isolate

C19: back formation from isolated, via Italian from Latin insulātus, literally: made into an island; see insulate

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

Word Origin and History for unisolated

isolate

by 1786, a new formation from isolated (q.v.).

The translation of this work is well performed, excepting that fault from which few translations are wholly exempt, and which is daily tending to corrupt our language, the adoption of French expressions. We have here evasion for escape, twice or more times repeated; brigands very frequently; we have the unnecessary and foolish word isolate; and, if we mistake not, paralize, which at least has crept in through a similar channel. Translators cannot be too careful on this point, as it is a temptation to which they are constantly exposed. ["The British Critic," April 1799]

As a noun from 1890, from earlier adjectival use (1819).

unisolated in Medicine