different between alone vs separate

English

Etymology

From Middle English allone, from earlier all oon (“alone”, literally “all one”), contracted from the Old English phrase eall ?n (“entirely alone, solitary, single”), equivalent to al- (“all”) +? one. Cognate with Scots alane (“alone”), Saterland Frisian alleene (“alone”), West Frisian allinne (“alone”), Dutch alleen (“alone”), Low German alleen (“alone”), German allein (“alone”), Danish alene (“alone”), Swedish allena (“alone”). More at all and one. Regarding the different phonological development of alone and one, see the note in one.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??l??n/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /??lo?n/, enPR: ?-l?n?
• (Hong Kong) IPA^(key): /??lu?/
• Rhymes: -??n
• Hyphenation: a?lone

Adjective

alone (comparative more alone, superlative most alone)

1. By oneself, solitary.
   • 1611, King James Version, Genesis ii. 18

     It is not good that the man should be alone.

   • 1798, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

     Alone on a wide, wide sea.

2. (predicatively, chiefly in the negative) Lacking peers who share one's beliefs, practices, etc.
3. (obsolete) Apart from, or exclusive of, others.
4. (obsolete) Mere; consisting of nothing further.
5. (obsolete) Unique; rare; matchless.

Derived terms

• alonely

Translations

Adverb

alone (not comparable)

1. By oneself; apart from, or exclusive of, others; solo.

   Synonyms: by one's lonesome, solitarily, solo; see also Thesaurus:solitarily

2. Without outside help.

   Synonyms: by oneself, by one's lonesome, singlehandedly; see also Thesaurus:by oneself

3. Focus adverb, typically modifying a noun and occurring immediately after it.
   1. Not permitting anything further; exclusively.

      Synonyms: entirely, solely; see also Thesaurus:solely
   2. Not requiring anything further; merely
   3. (by extension) Used to emphasize the size or extent of something by selecting a subset.
      • “[…] it is not fair of you to bring against mankind double weapons?! Dangerous enough you are as woman alone, without bringing to your aid those gifts of mind suited to problems which men have been accustomed to arrogate to themselves.”

Usage notes

• Unlike most focusing adverbs, alone typically appears after a noun phrase.

  Only the teacher knew vs. The teacher alone knew

Derived terms

• leave alone
• let alone
• stand-alone

Translations

Anagrams

• Enola, Leano, Leona, NOAEL, anole

Italian

Etymology

From Latin halo.

Noun

alone m (plural aloni)

1. halo
2. glow

Anagrams

• anelo, anelò

English

Etymology

Latin separatus, perfect passive participle of separare (“to separate”), from Latin s?- (“apart”) +? par? (“prepare”). Displaced Middle English scheden, from Old English sc?adan (whence English shed).

Pronunciation

• (adjective, noun) IPA^(key): /?s?p??t/, /?s?p???t/
• (verb) IPA^(key): /?s?p??e?t/
• Hyphenation: sep?a?rate

Adjective

separate (not comparable)

1. Apart from (the rest); not connected to or attached to (anything else).

   This chair can be disassembled into five separate pieces.

2. (followed by “from”) Not together (with); not united (to).

   I try to keep my personal life separate from work.

Translations

Verb

separate (third-person singular simple present separates, present participle separating, simple past and past participle separated)

1. (transitive) To divide (a thing) into separate parts.

2. (transitive) To disunite from a group or mass; to disconnect.
   • 1683, John Dryden, The Art of Poetry

     From the fine gold I separate the allay [alloy].

   • Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

3. (transitive) To cause (things or people) to be separate.

4. (intransitive) To divide itself into separate pieces or substances.

5. (obsolete) To set apart; to select from among others, as for a special use or service.

   • Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.

Synonyms

• (divide into separate parts): partition, split; see also Thesaurus:divide
• (disunite something from one thing): See also Thesaurus:disjoin
• (cause to be separate): split up, tear apart
• (divide itself): break down, come apart, disintegrate, fall apart
• (select from among others): earmark, sepose; see also Thesaurus:set apart

Antonyms

• annex
• combine

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

separate (plural separates)

1. (usually in the plural) Anything that is sold by itself, especially articles of clothing such as blouses, skirts, jackets, and pants.

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Usage notes

• The spelling is separate (-par-). seperate (-per-) is a common misspelling.

See also

• disunite
• disconnect
• divide
• split
• reduce
• subtract

Anagrams

• asperate

German

Pronunciation

Adjective

separate

1. inflection of separat:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

Verb

separate

1. second-person plural indicative present of separare
2. second-person plural imperative of separare

Latin

Verb

s?par?te

1. second-person plural present active imperative of s?par?

References

• separate in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• separate in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• separate in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette

Norwegian Bokmål

Adjective

separate

1. definite singular of separat
2. plural of separat

Norwegian Nynorsk

Adjective

separate

1. definite singular of separat
2. plural of separat