WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
sep•a•rate /v. ˈsɛpəˌreɪt; adj., n. -ərɪt/USA pronunciation
v., -rat•ed, -rat•ing, adj., n.
v.
adj.
n.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026v.
- to (cause to) come or draw apart;
divide: [~ + object]to separate two fighting boys.[~ + object + from + object]The school separates the boys from the girls.[no object]The two fighters separated, then went after each other again. - to divide into pieces: [~ + object]Separate the strips of bacon and fry them individually.[no object]After defrosting, the strips of bacon will separate easily.
- to (cause to) become extracted: [~ + object]to separate metal from ore.[no object]The metal easily separates from the ore.
- to stop living together but without divorce:[no object]He and his wife separated last year.
adj.
- detached;
not connected:a garage separate from the house. - different:five separate meanings.
- not shared;
individual:[before a noun]separate checks.
n.
- ClothingUsually, separates. [plural] women's clothing to be worn in various combinations.
sep•a•rate
(v. sep′ə rāt′;adj., n. sep′ər it),USA pronunciation v., -rat•ed, -rat•ing, adj., n.
v.t.
v.i.
adj.
n.
sep′a•rate•ly, adv.
sep′a•rate•ness, n.
v.t.
- to keep apart or divide, as by an intervening barrier or space:to separate two fields by a fence.
- to put, bring, or force apart;
part:to separate two fighting boys. - to set apart;
disconnect;
dissociate:to separate church and state. - to remove or sever from association, service, etc., esp. legally or formally:He was separated from the army right after V-E Day.
- to sort, part, divide, or disperse (an assemblage, mass, compound, etc.), as into individual units, components, or elements.
- to take by parting or dividing;
extract (usually fol. by from or out):to separate metal from ore. - Mathematicsto 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.Cf. separation of variables.
v.i.
- to part company;
withdraw from personal association (often fol. by from):to separate from a church. - (of a married pair) to stop living together but without getting a divorce.
- to draw or come apart;
become divided, disconnected, or detached. - to become parted from a mass or compound:Cream separates from milk.
- to take or go in different directions:We have to separate at the crossroad.
adj.
- detached, disconnected, or disjoined.
- unconnected;
distinct;
unique:two separate questions. - being or standing apart;
distant or dispersed:two separate houses; The desert has widely separate oases. - existing or maintained independently:separate organizations.
- individual or particular:each separate item.
- not shared;
individual or private:separate checks; separate rooms. - (sometimes cap.) noting or pertaining to a church or other organization no longer associated with the original or parent organization.
n.
- ClothingUsually, 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.
- Printing, Library Scienceoffprint (def. 1).
- Library Sciencea 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.
- Latin sēparātus (past participle of sēparāre), equivalent. to sē- se- + par(āre) to furnish, produce, obtain, prepare + -ātus -ate1
- late Middle English (noun, nominal and adjective, adjectival) 1400–50
sep′a•rate•ness, n.
- 1. 2. sever, sunder, split. 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. 3. disjoin, disengage. 13. unattached, severed, discrete. 15. secluded, isolated. 16. independent.
- 1. –3. unite, connect.
'separately' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Additional Member System
- à la carte
- apart
- binary weapon
- bunny hop
- card index
- concert party
- detail
- diaeresis
- distributive
- Dutch door
- each
- enumerate
- exploded view
- file server
- filmstrip
- fleishik
- fractional distillation
- Hungnam
- interlude
- mixer tap
- part
- portamento
- respective
- respectively
- set in
- several
- severally
- single-foot
- singly
- stable door
- window
- wrapround
- appendix
- archaebacteria
- bomblet
- bundled
- cape
- carditis
- casebound
- chapel
- chop shop
- coexist
- contact cement
- cutwork
- deuterostome
- drop seat
- duchesse
- Ehlers-Danlos syndrome
- fin-footed