separated

1. 1
   adjective

   Detached and no longer connected or joined, with two or more parts standing apart.

   The separated layers of oil and water formed a clear line in the jar.

   Engineers kept the wires separated to prevent any short circuit.

   Similardetached, disconnected, divided, apart, isolated

   Oppositeconnected, attached, combined

2. 2
   adjective

   Living apart from one's spouse and estranged, but not yet legally divorced.

   Legally separated couples often settle their finances before filing for divorce.

   He has been separated from his wife since last spring.

   Similarestranged

   Note

   A word for marriages, used of spouses rather than things. It usually comes after the verb and describes either a couple (my parents are separated) or one partner, with from naming the other. It names the stage before divorce, not a gentler word for it. On a form or in conversation, separated and divorced are not interchangeable.

3. 3
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of separate.

   The farmer separated the lambs from the ewes at dusk.

   The files were separated by category before the audit.

   Note

   One spelling does both jobs. It is the plain past (she separated the files) and the participle after have or be (they have separated; the lambs were separated). The participle also gives the "detached" adjective. Unlike the adjective separate, which takes no degrees, that adjective can be more or most separated. In older writing the verb could mean set apart for a special service.

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