Separate vs Differentiate - What's the difference?
separate | differentiate |
Apart from (the rest); not connected to or attached to (anything else).
Not together (with); not united (to).
To divide (a thing) into separate parts.
To disunite something from one thing; To disconnect.
* Dryden
* Bible, Romans viii. 35
To cause (things or people) to be separate.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author=David Simpson
, volume=188, issue=26, page=36, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= To divide itself into separate pieces or substances.
(obsolete) To set apart; to select from among others, as for a special use or service.
* Bible, Acts xiii. 2
(usually, in the plural) Anything that is sold by itself, especially an article of clothing.
To show, or be the distinction between two things.
* Earle
* {{quote-book, year=1933
, passage=The mass of the rich and poor are differentiated by their incomes and nothing else, and the average millionaire is only the average dishwasher dressed in a new suit.
, author=George Orwell, title=Down and Out in Paris and London, chapter=Ch. XXII, page=120, publisher=Harvest / Harcourt paperback edition}}
To perceive the difference between things; to discriminate.
* {{quote-book, title=, year=1964
, passage=he refused to instruct that actual intent to harm or recklessness had to be found before punitive damages could be awarded, or that a verdict for respondent should differentiate between compensatory and punitive damages.}}
(intransitive) To modify, or be modified.
(mathematics) To calculate the derivative of a function.
(mathematics) To calculate the differential of a function of multiple variables.
(biology) To produce distinct organs or to achieve specific functions by a process of development called differentiation.
* {{quote-book, title=, year=1930, author=Robert Evans Snodgrass
, passage=In Chapter IV we learned that every animal consists of a body, or soma, formed of cells that are differentiated from the germ cells usually at an early stage of development.}}
In transitive terms the difference between separate and differentiate
is that separate is to cause (things or people) to be separate while differentiate is to show, or be the distinction between two things.In intransitive terms the difference between separate and differentiate
is that separate is to divide itself into separate pieces or substances while differentiate is to perceive the difference between things; to discriminate.As an adjective separate
is apart from (the rest); not connected to or attached to (anything else).As a noun separate
is anything that is sold by itself, especially an article of clothing.separate
English
Adjective
(-)- This chair can be disassembled into five separate pieces.
- I try to keep my personal life separate from work.
Verb
(separat)- From the fine gold I separate the alloy.
- Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Fantasy of navigation, passage=It is tempting to speculate about the incentives or compulsions that might explain why anyone would take to the skies in [the] basket [of a balloon]: […]; […]; or perhaps to muse on the irrelevance of the borders that separate nation states and keep people from understanding their shared environment.}}
- Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.
Derived terms
* separable * separately * separation * separational * separationism * separationistAntonyms
* annex * combineSee also
* disunite * disconnect * divide * split * reduce * subtractNoun
(en noun)Usage notes
* The spelling is (separate). *(term) is a common misspelling.differentiate
English
Verb
(differentiat)- The word "then" was differentiated into the two forms "then" and "than".