Separates

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Divides or moves something apart from a whole or group to create distinct parts
2. Acts to set or keep apart two or more items or groups from each other
3. Causes something to become detached or isolated from others, creating separation

Etymology: Its Latin ancestor "sēparō" was built from "sē-", meaning "apart", and "parō", meaning "prepare". The sense of "preparing apart" is a little surprising, but the link is simple: to set things apart is to prepare them into distinct groups. English inherited the idea through Middle English "separaten", which was formed from the adjective "separat", a participle of the Latin verb. English already had a native verb for this. "Scheden", from Old English "scēadan", meant to divide or part things, and it survives today in "shed", as in shedding light or shedding tears. "Separate" displaced "scheden" in Middle English, so the modern word beat out an older Germanic term. Its close relative "sever", which also comes from the same Latin verb, took a separate route into English and kept a sharper, more forceful sense of cutting off.

Synonyms: divides, distinguishes, isolates

Antonyms: joins, unites, combines