different between disembarrass vs separate

English

Etymology

From dis- +? embarrass.

Verb

disembarrass (third-person singular simple present disembarrasses, present participle disembarrassing, simple past and past participle disembarrassed)

1. (transitive) To get (someone) out of a difficult or embarrassing situation; to free (someone) from the embarrassment (of a situation); to relieve (someone of a burden, item of clothing, etc.) (often used reflexively).
   • 1726, George Berkeley, letter to Thomas Prior dated 6 February, 1726, in The Works of George Berkeley, London: G. Robinson, Volume 1, p. xliv,^[1]

     […] I hope […] that you will have disembarrassed yourself of all sort of business that may detain you here, and so be ready to go with us […]

   • 1819, Walter Scott, The Bride of Lammermoor, Chapter 10,^[2]

     He had now disembarrassed himself of his riding-dress, and walking up to his daughter, he undid the fastening of her mask.

   • 1854, Charles Dickens, Hard Times, Book 3, Chapter 2,^[3]

     Cursing these quick retorts of the young gentleman to whom he was so true a friend, Mr. Harthouse disembarrassed himself of that interview with the smallest conceivable amount of ceremony […]

   • 1979, Robert Alter and Carol Cosman, A Lion for Love: A Critical Biography of Stendhal, New York: Basic Books, Part 1, Chapter 3, p. 52,

     The forthright adolescent heroine of that book, wanting to know what is this thing “love” so vaunted in fiction and so warned against by her elders, hires a strapping young peasant to disembarrass her of her virginity.

   • 2004, Alan Hollinghurst, The Line of Beauty, London: Picador, Chapter 11, p. 336,^[4]

     […] Pat, in another sense, had done nothing for him; Nick hadn’t liked his brand of cagey camp, and had been snotty and priggish with him: so that, more shamefully still, he felt subtly disembarrassed by the death, since it erased the memory of his own bad grace.

2. (transitive, obsolete) To free (something) from complication.
   • 1719, uncredited editor, A Collection of Tracts Concerning Predestination and Providence, Cambridge University Press, Preface,^[5]

     […] that we might disembarrass the Style as much as possible, we have taken the liberty to transpose Parentheses and other perplexed Passages, so as to clear and reduce them to continued Sentences.

   • 1764, John Entick et al., The General History of the Late War, London: Edward Dilly and John Millan, Volume 5, Book 6, p. 99-100,^[6]

     […] it was unanimously resolved to admit to the treaty, none but the principals in the war, and their acting allies. This exclusion of the neutral interests tended greatly to disembarrass and simplify the negociation, in all outward appearance.

   • 1783, Hugh Blair, Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres, Dublin: Whitestone et al., Volume 1, Lecture 8, pp. 180-181,^[7]

     There is no doubt that, by abolishing cases, we have rendered the structure of modern Languages more simple. We have disembarrassed it of all the intricacy which arose from the different forms of declension, of which the Romans had no fewer than five; and from all the irregularities in these several declensions.

3. (transitive, obsolete) To disentangle (two things); to distinguish.
   • 1751, William Warburton, commentary on An Essay on Man in The Works of Alexander Pope, London: J. & P. Knapton et al., Volume 3, p. 63,^[8]

     […] though it be difficult to distinguish genuine Virtue from spurious, they having both the same appearance, and both the same public effects, yet they may be disembarrassed. If it be asked, by what means? He replies […] By Conscience […]

Derived terms

• disembarrassment

Synonyms

• (free from embarrassment or release from a burden): disburden, disencumber, extricate

References

• disembarrass in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

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