separate Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a separately printed article that originally appeared in a larger publication
    offprint; reprint.
  2. noun a garment that can be purchased separately and worn in combinations with other garments
  3. verb act as a barrier between; stand between
    divide.
    • The mountain range divides the two countries
  4. verb force, take, or pull apart
    part; disunite; divide.
    • He separated the fighting children
    • Moses parted the Red Sea
  5. verb mark as different
    secernate; severalise; severalize; tell apart; differentiate; distinguish; tell; secern.
    • We distinguish several kinds of maple
  6. verb separate into parts or portions
    divide; split up; split; carve up; dissever.
    • divide the cake into three equal parts
    • The British carved up the Ottoman Empire after World War I
  7. verb divide into components or constituents
    • Separate the wheat from the chaff
  8. verb arrange or order by classes or categories
    sort; assort; sort out; class; classify.
    • How would you classify these pottery shards--are they prehistoric?
  9. verb make a division or separation
    divide.
  10. verb discontinue an association or relation; go different ways
    break; break up; split up; part; split.
    • The business partners broke over a tax question
    • The couple separated after 25 years of marriage
    • My friend and I split up
  11. verb go one's own way; move apart
    part; split.
    • The friends separated after the party
  12. verb become separated into pieces or fragments
    break; split up; fall apart; come apart.
    • The figurine broke
    • The freshly baked loaf fell apart
  13. verb treat differently on the basis of sex or race
    single out; discriminate.
  14. verb come apart
    part; divide.
    • The two pieces that we had glued separated
  15. verb divide into two or more branches so as to form a fork
    ramify; fork; furcate; branch.
    • The road forks
  16. adjective independent; not united or joint
    • a problem consisting of two separate issues
    • they went their separate ways
    • formed a separate church
  17. adjective satellite standing apart; not attached to or supported by anything
    freestanding.
    • a freestanding bell tower
    • a house with a separate garage
  18. adjective satellite separated according to race, sex, class, or religion
    • separate but equal
    • girls and boys in separate classes
  19. adjective satellite have the connection undone; having become separate
    disjoined.

WordNet

Sep"a*rate transitive verb
Etymology
L. separatus, p. p. of separare to separate; pfref. se- aside + parare to make ready, prepare. See Parade, and cf. Sever.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Separated ; present participle & verbal noun Separating
Definitions
  1. To disunite; to divide; to disconnect; to sever; to part in any manner.
    From the fine gold I separate the alloy. Dryden.
    Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me. Gen. xiii. 9.
    Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Rom. viii. 35.
  2. To come between; to keep apart by occupying the space between; to lie between; as, the Mediterranean Sea separates Europe and Africa.
  3. To set apart; to select from among others, as for a special use or service.
    Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called thaem. Acts xiii. 2.
    Gray.
Sep"a*rate intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To part; to become disunited; to be disconnected; to withdraw from one another; as, the family separated.
Sep"a*rate participial adjective
Etymology
L. separatus, p. p.
Definitions
  1. Divided from another or others; disjoined; disconnected; separated; -- said of things once connected.
    Him that was separate from his brethren. Gen. xlix. 26.
  2. Unconnected; not united or associated; distinct; -- said of things that have not been connected.
    For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinnere. Heb. vii. 26.
  3. Disunited from the body; disembodied; as, a separate spirit; the separate state of souls. -- Sep"a*rate*ly, adv. -- Sep"a*rate*ness, n.

Webster 1913