dictionary definitions for "separate"


From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:

  separate
      adj 1: independent; not united or joint; "a problem consisting
             of two separate issues"; "they went their separate ways";
             "formed a separate church" [ant: joint]
      2: standing apart; not attached to or supported by anything; "a
         freestanding bell tower"; "a house with a separate garage"
         [syn: freestanding, separate]
      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 [syn:
         disjoined, separate]
      n 1: a separately printed article that originally appeared in a
           larger publication [syn: offprint, reprint, separate]
      2: a garment that can be purchased separately and worn in
         combinations with other garments
      v 1: act as a barrier between; stand between; "The mountain
           range divides the two countries" [syn: separate,
           divide]
      2: force, take, or pull apart; "He separated the fighting
         children"; "Moses parted the Red Sea" [syn: separate,
         disunite, divide, part]
      3: mark as different; "We distinguish several kinds of maple"
         [syn: distinguish, separate, differentiate, secern,
         secernate, severalize, severalise, 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" [syn: divide, split, split up, separate,
         dissever, carve up] [ant: unify, unite]
      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?" [syn:
         classify, class, sort, assort, sort out,
         separate]
      7: make a division or separation [syn: separate, 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" [syn: separate, part, split up, split,
         break, break up]
      9: go one's own way; move apart; "The friends separated after
         the party" [syn: separate, part, split]
      10: become separated into pieces or fragments; "The figurine
          broke"; "The freshly baked loaf fell apart" [syn: break,
          separate, split up, fall apart, come apart]
      11: treat differently on the basis of sex or race [syn:
          discriminate, separate, single out]
      12: come apart; "The two pieces that we had glued separated"
          [syn: separate, divide, part]
      13: divide into two or more branches so as to form a fork; "The
          road forks" [syn: branch, ramify, fork, furcate,
          separate]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Separate \Sep"a*rate\, v. i.
     To part; to become disunited; to be disconnected; to withdraw
     from one another; as, the family separated.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Separate \Sep"a*rate\, p. a. [L. separatus, p. p. ]
     1. Divided from another or others; disjoined; disconnected;
        separated; -- said of things once connected.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Him that was separate from his brethren. --Gen.
                                                    xlix. 26.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Unconnected; not united or associated; distinct; -- said
        of things that have not been connected.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              For such an high priest became us, who is holy,
              harmless, undefiled, separate from sinnere. --Heb.
                                                    vii. 26.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Disunited from the body; disembodied; as, a separate
        spirit; the separate state of souls.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Separate estate (Law), an estate limited to a married woman
        independent of her husband.
  
     Separate maintenance (Law), an allowance made to a wife by
        her husband under deed of separation.
        [1913 Webster] -- Sep"a*rate*ly, adv. --
        Sep"a*rate*ness, n.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Separate \Sep"a*rate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Separated; p. pr. &
     vb. n. Separating.] [L. separatus, p. p. of separare to
     separate; pfref. se- aside + parare to make ready, prepare.
     See Parade, and cf. Sever.]
     1. To disunite; to divide; to disconnect; to sever; to part
        in any manner.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              From the fine gold I separate the alloy. --Dryden.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me. --Gen. xiii.
                                                    9.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
                                                    --Rom. viii.
                                                    35.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To come between; to keep apart by occupying the space
        between; to lie between; as, the Mediterranean Sea
        separates Europe and Africa.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. To set apart; to select from among others, as for a
        special use or service.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto
              I have called thaem.                  --Acts xiii.
                                                    2.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Separated flowers (Bot.), flowers which have stamens and
        pistils in separate flowers; diclinous flowers. --Gray.
        [1913 Webster]


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