separation
Pluralseparations
- 1The act of disuniting two or more things, or the state of being kept apart.
The separation of oil and water occurs naturally once the mixture settles.
Chemists rely on careful separation to isolate each compound in the sample.
Similardivision, detachment, severance, rupture, disjunction
Oppositeunification, combination, annexation
Note
The core meaning came into English in the 15th century, through Middle English separacioun and Old French separacion from Latin separatio. In form the word is simply separate plus -ion. Like many -ion nouns, it names both an act and its result. So it can be countable (several separations) or uncountable (separation takes time). Severance and rupture suggest a break, while division and detachment sit closer to its neutral tone.
- 2The act or state of two or more people being kept apart from one another.
The separation of the twins at birth haunted them for decades.
Prolonged separation from loved ones can wear down a soldier's morale.
Similarparting, absence, isolation, division, estrangement
Oppositereunion, union, togetherness
Note
Here the weight falls on the people kept apart and on what the distance costs them. Frederick Douglass, in My Bondage and My Freedom (1855), dreads the separation that sale to the far south would bring. Mohsin Hamid's The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2007) measures it in "months of near-complete separation." Duration and degree attach naturally: months of separation, a long separation, near-complete separation.
- 3The state of a married couple living apart in separate homes while still legally married.
The couple's separation gave them space to reconsider the marriage.
She moved out, and their separation became permanent within months.
Similarsplit, breakup, estrangement, parting
Oppositereconciliation, reunion
Note
This is the household arrangement rather than the legal paper, and Dickens's Nicholas Nickleby (1839) draws the line between them. A wife warns that if she is refused a separation, she will "have one in law," which is the step to the formal legal agreement. Carol Shields's The Stone Diaries (1993) sets it beside divorce as a different thing: the couple lives apart, but the marriage still stands.
- 4An interval, gap, or space that lies between things or people.
The separation between the two buildings was just wide enough for a path.
Pilots maintain a safe separation between aircraft in flight.
Similargap, space, opening, break, interstice
- 5The point or place at which a division occurs.
Geologists examined the separation where the two rock strata met.
The fabric tore right at the separation of the two panels.
Similarboundary, border, demarcation
Note
Because this meaning names the dividing line itself, a person can stand on it. Robert Louis Stevenson, in Travels with a Donkey (1879), is "on the separation of two vast water-sheds," with streams running to the Garonne behind him and the Rhone basin ahead. Border, boundary and demarcation are its close neighbors. Use it for the meeting point, not for the space between.
- 6
- 7A legal agreement that formalizes a married couple's living apart while remaining legally married.
The couple's separation outlined how they would divide their expenses.
Her attorney filed the separation with the county court.
Similarsettlement
Note
In legal language, the formal agreement also goes by divorce from bed and board, even though the marriage itself survives it. In ordinary speech one gets a separation, as in Thomas Hardy's Far from the Madding Crowd (1874). Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind (1936) ranks it below divorce: "a divorce or even a separation" is the lesser legal step, not another name for the same one.
- 8A service member's departure from active duty, without necessarily leaving the armed forces altogether.
His separation from active duty was processed at the end of his enlistment.
The sergeant's separation moved her into the reserve component.
Oppositeenlistment, induction
Note
In military administration, the word covers any departure from active duty, so it is not the same as a discharge. A separated service member may move to a reserve component or the inactive ready reserve and remain in the armed forces. The usual phrase is separation from active duty, which names a change of status rather than necessarily an exit from the service.
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of separation apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origin
First attested in the 15th century, it comes from Middle English "separacioun," from Old French "separacion," from Latin "separatio" ("separationem"). It is formed from "separate" plus the suffix "-ion."