Etymology

separate

sep·a·rate
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Today it means: To divide (a thing) into separate parts. Full definition →

Middle English separaten ← Latin sēparātus ← Proto-Indo-European *per-
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separate · verb1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*per-“produce, procure, bring forward, bring forth”
  2. Latin · derived fromsēparātus
  3. Middle English · inherited fromseparaten“to separate”
  4. English todayseparate

From Middle English separaten (“to separate”), from separat (“separated”) + -en, from Latin sēparātus, perfect passive participle of sēparō (“to separate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from sē- (“apart”) + parō (“prepare”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“produce, procure, bring forward, bring forth”). Displaced Middle English scheden, from Old English scēadan (whence English shed). Doublet of sever, also derived from the same Latin verb.

separate · adjective2

  1. Middle English · inherited fromseparat
  2. Middle English · inherited fromseparat
  3. English todayseparate

Inherited from Middle English separat (“separated”), from Latin sēparātus, see -ate (“adjective-forming suffix”) and Etymology 1 for more.

separate · noun3

From a substantivization of the above adjective, see -ate (“noun-forming suffix”) and Etymology 1 for more.

Words from the same roots

Proto-Indo-European*per- all →

beforefurthersportprimefearexperimentfareforthcomingparamountparseemporiumpostpartumparlaypareperihelionappriseportentousparamourfraisefirnparlousafeardisportfore-forlorn hopefornefraistmi-partimisprisionporte cochère

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.