Separately

/ˈsɛprɪtli/

adverbBeginner🔥Very CommonManner
1 meaning1 idiom/phrase3 questions

Definitions

1

In a way that is not together; individually or apart.

/ˈsɛprɪtli/

adverbneutralBeginner
Manner

In a way that keeps things distinct or apart.

The children were playing separately in different rooms.

💡 Simply: Imagine you have two bags of snacks. You wouldn't mix them, right? You'd keep them separately, so you can choose which one to eat. That's the same idea!

👶 For kids: Doing things one at a time and not together.

More Examples

2

Please pay for your items separately at the cashier.

3

We dealt with each issue separately to ensure a thorough response.

How It's Used

General

"We need to address the concerns separately."

Business

"The invoices should be filed separately."

Idioms & expressions

separate the wheat from the chaff

To distinguish the valuable or genuine from the worthless or fake.

"The interview process helped us separate the wheat from the chaff and find the best candidates."

From the Latin 'separatus,' past participle of 'separare' meaning 'to disjoin, divide.' It entered English in the late 16th century.

Used in various legal and administrative texts to describe division and classification.

Memory tip

Think of a 'separate' gate. Each thing passes through its own separate area.

Word Origin

LanguageLatin
Original meaning

"to disjoin, divide"

pay separatelydeal separatelyhandle separatelyassess separatelyfile separately

Common misspellings

seperatelysepratelyseparateley

Usage

60%Spoken
40%Written