separate
American Heritage Dictionary:
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sep·a·rate
(sĕp'ə-rāt') 
v., -rat·ed, -rat·ing, -rates. v.tr.
A garment, such as a skirt, jacket, or pair of slacks, that may be purchased separately and worn in various combinations with other garments.
separateness sep'a·rate·ness n.
v., -rat·ed, -rat·ing, -rates. v.tr.
- To set or keep apart; disunite.
- To space apart; scatter: small farms that were separated one from another by miles of open land.
- To sort: separate mail by postal zones.
- To differentiate or discriminate between; distinguish: a researcher who separated the various ethnic components of the population sample.
- To remove from a mixture or combination; isolate.
- To part (a couple), often by decree: She was separated from her husband last year.
- To terminate a contractual relationship, as military service, with; discharge.
- To come apart.
- To withdraw: The state threatened to separate from the Union.
- To part company; disperse.
- To stop living together as spouses.
- To become divided into components or parts: Oil and water tend to separate.
- Set or kept apart; disunited: Libraries often have a separate section for reference books.
- Existing as an independent entity.
- often Separate Having undergone schism or estrangement from a parent body: Separate churches.
- Dissimilar from all others; distinct: "a policeman's way of being separate from you even when he was being nice" (John le Carré).
- Not shared; individual: two people who held separate views on the issue.
- Archaic. Withdrawn from others; solitary.
A garment, such as a skirt, jacket, or pair of slacks, that may be purchased separately and worn in various combinations with other garments.
[Middle English separaten, from Latin sēparātus, past participle of sēparāre : sē-, apart + parāre, to prepare.]
separately sep'a·rate·ly adv.separateness sep'a·rate·ness n.
SYNONYMS separate, divide, part, sever, sunder, divorce. These verbs mean to become or cause to become parted, disconnected, or disunited. Separate applies both to putting apart and to keeping apart: "In the darkness and confusion, the bands of these commanders became separated from each other" (Washington Irving). Divide implies separation by or as if by cutting or splitting into parts or shares; the term often refers to separation into opposing or hostile groups: We divided the orange into segments. "'A house divided against itself cannot stand.' I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free" (Abraham Lincoln). Part refers most often to the separation of closely associated persons or things: "Because ... nothing that God or Satan could inflict would have parted us" (Emily Brontë). Sever usually implies abruptness and force: "His head was nearly severed from his body" (H.G. Wells). Sunder stresses violent tearing or wrenching apart: The country was sundered by civil war. Divorce implies complete separation: "a priest and a soldier, two classes of men circumstantially divorced from the kind and homely ties of life" (Robert Louis Stevenson). See also synonyms at distinct.
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separate
Fowler's Modern English Usage:
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separate
Note the spelling with two as, unlike desperate. The verb is pronounced sep-ǝ-rayt, and the adjective sep-ǝ-rǝt.
| sentence adverb, sentence, sensual, sensuous | |
| sepulchre, sequence of tenses, sergeant, serjeant |
Roget's Thesaurus:
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separate
verb
- To become or cause to become apart one from another: break, detach, disjoin, disjoint, disunite, divide, divorce, part, split (up). Idioms: part company, set at odds. See assemble/disassemble.
- To make a division into parts, sections, or branches: break up, dissever, divide, part, partition, section, segment. See assemble/disassemble, part/whole.
- To set apart (one kind or type) from others: sift, sort, winnow. See include/exclude.
- To distribute into groups according to kinds: assort, categorize, class, classify, group, pigeonhole, sort (out). See collect/distribute.
- To recognize as being different: differentiate, discern, discriminate, distinguish, know, tell. See same/different/compare.
- To set apart from a group: close off, cut off, insulate, isolate, seclude, segregate, sequester. See include/exclude.
- To terminate a relationship or an association by or as if by leaving one another: break off, break up, part. Informal split (up). Idioms: call it quits, come to a parting of the ways, part company. See assemble/disassemble, continue/stop/pause.
- To release from military duty: demobilize, discharge, muster out. See free/unfree, keep/release.
adjective
- Being or related to a distinct entity: discrete, individual, particular, single, singular. See include/exclude.
- Alone in a given category: lone, one, only, particular, single, singular, sole, solitary, unique. Idioms: first and last, one and only. See include/exclude.
- Distinguished from others by nature or qualities: discrete, distinct, several, various. See same/different/compare.
Antonyms by Answers.com:
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separate
adj
Definition: alone, individual
Antonyms: associated, combined, connected, interdependent, joined, mixed, together, united
v
Definition: isolate, segregate
Antonyms: desegregate, join, mix, unite
v
Definition: part company
Antonyms: converge, marry, merge
v
Definition: remove something from group; keep or set apart
Antonyms: bring together, combine, join, mix, unite
Random House Word Menu:
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categories related to 'separately'
See crossword solutions for the clue Translations:
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Separate
Dansk (Danish)
adj. - adskilt, separat, særlig, enkelt-
v. tr. - adskille, separere, sortere, dele, skille ad
v. intr. - skilles, udskilles, separeres, udtræde
n. - særtryk
Nederlands (Dutch)
(af)scheiden, afzonderen, ontkoppelen, uit elkaar gaan, verschillend, eigen, afzonderlijk, apart, gescheiden
Français (French)
adj. - à part, propre, indépendant, différent, distinct
v. tr. - séparer, diviser, éloigner, dissocier, répartir, trier
v. intr. - se séparer, se détacher, se retirer, se disperser, se diviser
n. - vêtements coordonnés (npl)
Deutsch (German)
v. - (sich) trennen, sich scheiden lassen, spalten, sich abspalten
adj. - verschieden, Sonder..., getrennt, gesondert
n. - Getrennte, (Druckw.) Sonderdruck, Kleid
Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - διαχωρίζω, χωρίζω, ξεχωρίζω
adj. - ξεχωριστός, ξέχωρος, χωριστός, ιδιαίτερος, ανεξάρτητος
Italiano (Italian)
separare, staccare, segregare, separarsi, diverso, separato
Português (Portuguese)
v. - separar
adj. - separado, independente, individual
Русский (Russian)
отдельный, раздельный, сепаратный, особый, отделять, отделяться, различать, разделять, выделять, сортировать, разлучать, расставаться, расходиться, разлагать на части, выделять из раствора, демобилизовывать
Español (Spanish)
adj. - diferente, distinto, separado
v. tr. - separar, disociar, segregar, desenganchar, desacoplar, desconectar, aislar
v. intr. - divorciarse, separarse, desprenderse, despegarse
n. - separata
Svenska (Swedish)
v. - skilja, avskilja, avsöndra, frånskilja, separera, skiljas från varandra, gå skilda vägar
adj. - skild, avskild, enskild, särskild, separat, åtskild
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
分开的, 单独的, 各别的, 分隔, 使分离, 分割, 使分散, 分开, 分手, 脱离, 分散, 抽印本
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 分開的, 單獨的, 各別的
v. tr. - 分隔, 使分離, 分割, 使分散
v. intr. - 分開, 分手, 脫離, 分散
n. - 分開, 抽印本
한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 갈라진, 개별적인, 육체를 떠난
v. tr. - 가르다, 별거 시키다, 추출하다
v. intr. - 탈퇴하다, 서로 섞이지 않다, 별거하다
n. - 갈라진 것, 발췌 인쇄, 세퍼릿 (위아래가 따로따로 되어 있는 여성복)
日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 切り離す, 分離する, 分ける, 分離させる, 区切る, 別れる, 別居する
adj. - 分かれた, 離れた, 別々の, 独立した, 個々の
العربيه (Arabic)
(فعل) يباعد ما بين, يميز بين, يفصل (صفه) مستقل, منفصل, منعزل
עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - נפרד, נבדל, שונה
v. tr. - הפריד, הבדיל, חילק, שילח, סילק
v. intr. - התפלג, נפרד מ-, פרש
n. - תדפיס, פריט מתוך מערכת-ביגוד
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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