1. Force, take, or pull apart
   "He separated the fighting children";
   - disunite, divide, part
    
2. Separate into parts or portions
   "separate the cake into three equal parts";
   - divide, split, split up, dissever [rare], carve up
    
3. Act as a barrier between; stand between
   "The mountain range separates the two countries";
   - divide
    
4. Make or perceive a clear distinction between
   "We separate several kinds of maple";
   - distinguish, differentiate, secern [rare], severalize [rare], severalise [Brit, rare], tell apart
    
5. Divide into components or constituents
   "Separate the wheat from the chaff"
    
6. Make a division or separation
   "The mediator separated the arguing couple";
   - divide
    
7. Go one's own way; move apart
   "The friends separated after the party";
   - part, split
    
8. Become separated into pieces or fragments
   "The figurine separated";
   - break, split up, fall apart, come apart
    
9. Discontinue an association or relation; go different ways
   "The couple separated after 25 years of marriage";
   - part, split up, split, break, break up
    
10. Divide into two or more branches so as to form a fork
    "The road separates";
    - branch, ramify, fork, furcate
     
11. Arrange or order by classes or categories
    "How would you separate these pottery shards — are they prehistoric?";
    - classify, class, sort, assort, sort out
     
12. Treat differently on the basis of factors such as sex, race, age, etc.
    "The company was accused of separating workers by age";
    - discriminate, single out
     
13. Move or break apart
    "The two pieces that we had glued separated";
    - divide, part

1. Independent; not united or joint
   "formed a separate church"; "a problem consisting of two separate issues"; "they went their separate ways"
    
2. Standing apart; not attached to or supported by anything
   "a house with a separate garage";
   - freestanding
    
3. Having the connection undone; having become separate
   "The separate pieces of the puzzle lay scattered on the table";
   - disjoined
    
4. Separated according to race, sex, class, or religion
   "separate but equal"; "girls and boys in separate classes"

1. A garment that can be purchased separately and worn in combinations with other garments
   "She bought a skirt as a separate to mix and match with her existing wardrobe"
    
2. A separately printed article that originally appeared in a larger publication
   "The researcher requested separates of her published study to share with colleagues";
   - offprint, reprint

Derived forms: separated, separating, separates

See also: apart, asunder, case-by-case, detached, discrete, disjoint, disjunct, distinct, divided, fall, independent, individual, isolable, isolated, item-by-item, other, out on a limb, segregated, separated, separation, single, unaccompanied, unconnected, unintegrated, unshared

Type of: act, article, break, break off, categorise [Brit], categorize, cease, change, change integrity, discontinue, displace, diverge, finger [informal], garment, give up, identify, lay off, move, place, quit, stop, surcease [archaic], work

Antonym: joint

Encyclopedia: Separate, equal