separate meaning and definition

SEPARATE noun

Definition of separate (noun)

1. a separately printed article that originally appeared in a larger publication
   • synonyms: offprint, reprint
2. a garment that can be purchased separately and worn in combinations with other garments

SEPARATE verb

Definition of separate (verb)

1. act as a barrier between; stand between
   • "The mountain range divides the two countries"
   • synonyms: divide
2. force, take, or pull apart
   • "He separated the fighting children"; "Moses parted the Red Sea"
   • synonyms: disunite, divide, part
3. mark as different
   • "We distinguish several kinds of maple"
   • synonyms: differentiate, distinguish, secern, secernate, severalise, severalize, tell, tell apart
4. separate into parts or portions
   • "divide the cake into three equal parts"; "The British carved up the Ottoman Empire after World War I"
   • synonyms: carve up, dissever, divide, split, split up
   • antonym: unify
5. divide into components or constituents
   • "Separate the wheat from the chaff"
6. arrange or order by classes or categories
   • "How would you classify these pottery shards--are they prehistoric?"
   • synonyms: assort, class, classify, sort, sort out
7. make a division or separation
   • synonyms: divide
8. discontinue an association or relation; go different ways
   • "The business partners broke over a tax question"; "The couple separated after 25 years of marriage"; "My friend and I split up"
   • synonyms: break, break up, part, split, split up
9. go one's own way; move apart
   • "The friends separated after the party"
   • synonyms: part, split
10. become separated into pieces or fragments
    • "The figurine broke"; "The freshly baked loaf fell apart"
    • synonyms: break, come apart, fall apart, split up
11. treat differently on the basis of sex or race
    • synonyms: discriminate, single out
12. come apart
    • "The two pieces that we had glued separated"
    • synonyms: divide, part
13. divide into two or more branches so as to form a fork
    • "The road forks"
    • synonyms: branch, fork, furcate, ramify

SEPARATE adjective

Definition of separate (adjective)

1. independent; not united or joint
   • "a problem consisting of two separate issues"; "they went their separate ways"; "formed a separate church"
   • antonym: joint
2. standing apart; not attached to or supported by anything
   • "a freestanding bell tower"; "a house with a separate garage"
   • synonyms: freestanding
3. separated according to race, sex, class, or religion
   • "separate but equal"; "girls and boys in separate classes"
4. have the connection undone; having become separate
   • synonyms: disjoined