separation

See also: Separation, and séparation

English

Etymology

Attested in the 15th Century C.E.; from Middle English separacioun, from Old French separacion, from Latin separatio, separationem. Morphologically separate +‎ -ion

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˌsɛp.əˈɹeɪ.ʃən/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˌsep.əˈɹæɪ.ʃən/
• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

Noun

separation (countable and uncountable, plural separations)

1. The act of disuniting two or more things, or the condition of being separated.

   Synonyms: detachment, disjunction, division, rupture, severance; see also Thesaurus:separation

   Antonyms: annexation, combination, unification; see also Thesaurus:junction

2. The act or condition of two or more people being separated from one another.
   • 1855, Frederick Douglass, chapter 19, in My Bondage and My Freedom. […], New York, Auburn, N.Y.: Miller, Orton & Mulligan […], →OCLC:

     We were a band of brothers, and never dearer to each other than now. The thought which gave us the most pain, was the probable separation which would now take place, in case we were sold off to the far south, as we were likely to be.

   • 2007, Mohsin Hamid, chapter 10, in The Reluctant Fundamentalist‎^[1], Orlando: Harcourt, page 141:

     […] my longing for her was undiminished despite our months of near-complete separation.

3. The act or condition of a married couple living in separate homes while remaining legally married.
   • 1839, Charles Dickens, chapter 44, in Nicholas Nickleby‎^[2]:

     ‘If he dares to refuse me a separation, I’ll have one in law—I can—and I hope this will be a warning to all girls who have seen this disgraceful exhibition.’

   • 1993, Carol Shields, chapter 8, in The Stone Diaries‎^[3], Toronto: Vintage, published 1994, page 302:

     […] she [knows] her great-aunt’s concern over her son Warren, his two divorces, and now Alice’s bitter separation from her husband, Ben.

   1. (law) An agreement legalizing such an arrangement.

      Synonym: divorce from bed and board

      • 1874, Thomas Hardy, chapter 52, in Far from the Madding Crowd. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], →OCLC:

        I should have gone back to her the day after the fair, if it hadn't been for you talking about the law, and rubbish about getting a separation;

      • 1936 June 30, Margaret Mitchell, chapter 63, in Gone with the Wind, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC; republished New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, 1944, →OCLC:

        “You are deserting me?”
        “Don’t be the neglected, dramatic wife, Scarlett. The rôle isn’t becoming. I take it, then, you do not want a divorce or even a separation? Well, then, I’ll come back often enough to keep gossip down.”

4. The place at which a division occurs.

   Synonyms: border, boundary, demarcation

   • 1879, Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Heart of the Country”, in Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes‎^[4]:

     I was now on the separation of two vast water-sheds; behind me all the streams were bound for the Garonne and the Western Ocean; before me was the basin of the Rhone.

5. An interval, gap or space that separates things or people.

   Synonyms: break, interstice; see also Thesaurus:interspace

   • c. 1595, William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream‎^[5], act II, scene 2:

     […] gentle friend, for love and courtesy
     Lie further off; in human modesty,
     Such separation as may well be said
     Becomes a virtuous bachelor and a maid,
     So far be distant;

6. An object that separates two spaces.

   Synonyms: barrier, separator

   • 1847, Charlotte Brontë, chapter 23, in Jane Eyre‎^[6]:

     [The orchard] was full of trees, it bloomed with flowers: a very high wall shut it out from the court, on one side; on the other, a beech avenue screened it from the lawn. At the bottom was a sunk fence; its sole separation from lonely fields:

7. (military) Departure from active duty, while not necessarily leaving the service entirely.

Derived terms

• antiseparation
• bioseparation
• cyclonic separation
• diastereoseparation
• electroseparation
• enantioseparation
• immunomagnetic separation
• immunoseparation
• judicial separation
• legal separation
• marital separation
• membrane separation
• microseparation
• nanoseparation
• nonseparation
• phase separation
• postseparation
• separational
• separation allowance
• separation anxiety
• separation anxiety disorder
• separation constant
• separation energy
• separation from bed and board
• separationism
• separationist
• separation of concerns
• separation of duties
• separation of powers
• separation pay
• static separation of duty
• trial separation
• unseparation

 

Translations

act of disuniting two or more things

• Arabic: تَفْرِقَة f (tafriqa)
• Aramaic:

  Hebrew: אבדלתא (’abdāltā’) f

  Syriac: ܐܒܕܠܬܐ (’abdāltā’) f

• Azerbaijani: ayrılıq (az)
• Belarusian: раздзяле́нне n (razdzjaljénnje), аддзяле́нне n (addzjaljénnje); разлу́ка f (razlúka), ростань f (róstanʹ) (parting of people, especially of close people)
• Bulgarian: отделяне (bg) n (otdeljane), разделяне (bg) n (razdeljane)
• Catalan: separació (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 分割 (zh) (fēngē), 分離／分离 (zh) (fēnlí)

• Czech: separace (cs) f
• Dutch: scheiding (nl) f
• Esperanto: izoleco, izoliteco, apartigo
• Finnish: erottaminen (fi), erottelu (fi), erotteleminen (fi), jaotteleminen (fi), jaottelu (fi), jakaminen (fi), jako (fi)
• French: séparation (fr) f
• Galician: separación (gl) f
• German: Trennung (de) f
• Greek:

  Ancient: διάστασις f (diástasis)

• Hebrew: הַבְדָּלָה (he) f (havdalá)
• Hungarian: elválasztás (hu)
• Irish: deighilt f, scaradh m
• Italian: separazione (it) f
• Japanese: 分離 (ja) (ぶんり, bunri)
• Korean: 분리 (ko) (bulli)
• Latin: dissociatio f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: utskillelse

• Old English: āsyndrung m
• Polish: separacja (pl) f, oddzielenie (pl) n
• Portuguese: separação (pt) f
• Punjabi: ਅਲਹਿਦਗੀ (pa) f (alahidgī)
• Romanian: separare (ro) f, izolare (ro) f
• Russian: разделе́ние (ru) n (razdelénije), отделе́ние (ru) n (otdelénije), разъедине́ние (ru) n (razʺjedinénije), разлу́ка (ru) f (razlúka) (parting of people, especially of close people)
• Scottish Gaelic: dealachadh m
• Spanish: separación (es)
• Swedish: separation (sv), delning (sv)
• Tocharian B: putkalñe, tsrālñe
• Ukrainian: розді́лення n (rozdílennja), поді́лення n (podílennja), роз'є́днання (uk) n (rozʺjédnannja), розлу́ка f (rozlúka) (parting of people, especially of close people)

act or condition of two or more people being separated from one another

• Bulgarian: разделение (bg) n (razdelenie)
• Finnish: ero (fi), erossaolo
• Ingrian: erahus
• Punjabi: ਅਲਹਿਦਗੀ (pa) f (alahidgī)
• Swedish: separation (sv)

the place at which a division occurs

• Finnish: raja (fi), rajakohta, raja-alue, jakokohta
• Galician: separación (gl) f
• Italian: separazione (it) f
• Plautdietsch: Scheedunk f
• Portuguese: separação (pt) f
• Swedish: separation (sv)

an interval, gap or space that separates things

• Finnish: väli (fi), rako (fi), railo (fi), ero (fi)
• French: séparation (fr) f
• Galician: separación (gl) f
• Hungarian: távolság (hu), köz (hu)
• Irish: deighilt f
• Italian: separazione (it) f
• Plautdietsch: Scheedunk f
• Portuguese: separação (pt) f
• Swedish: separation (sv)

(law) an agreement terminating a relationship

• Finnish: asumisero
• Galician: separación (gl) f
• Hungarian: különélés (hu)
• Italian: separazione (it) f
• Japanese: 離縁 (ja) (りえん, rien)
• Polish: separacja (pl) f
• Portuguese: separação (pt) f
• Romanian: divorțare f, divorț (ro) n, separare (ro) f
• Scottish Gaelic: eadar-ghearradh m

See also

• division
• fission

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “separation”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

• antioperas, asperation

Swedish

Etymology

From Latin separatio.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /separaɧuːn/

Noun

separation c

1. a separation

Declension

Declension of separation

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	separation	separations
	definite	separationen	separationens
plural	indefinite	separationer	separationers
	definite	separationerna	separationernas