separatist

Etymology

It is formed from English separate + -ist,^[2][3][4][5] from the adjective according to the OED and Dictionary.com, from the verb according to Etymonline.^[2][4][6] Separate is from Latin sēparātus, the past participle of sēparō (“to pull apart”), from sē- (“apart”) and parō (“to make ready, prepare”).^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A member of one of the sects that had separated from the Church of England: 1608, in R. Bernard's Christian Advertisements.^[2][5] Etymonline and Dictionary.com date the word to about 1600 or the decade 1600–10.^[6][4]

Semantic evolution

The word was at first religious: in the 17th century it was applied chiefly to the Independents, and the historical Separatists are still written with a capital.^[2][5] Merriam-Webster describes them as English Protestants of the 16th and 17th centuries who preferred leaving the Church of England to reforming it.^[8] From before 1645 it was used of any schismatic or sectarian,^[2] and Johnson (1755) defined it as one who divides from the church, a schismatic or seceder.^[9] Later it named particular groups, such as the Wesleyan Methodists who wanted to leave the Church of England in 1795–7 and a German communal religious society in the United States.^[2] The political sense, an advocate of political separation, is recorded from 1871; the OED notes its use for supporters of the secession of the Southern States in 1860–61.^[2][6] The adjective followed in the church sense in 1830 and in the political sense in 1864.^[2][6] In Canada a Separatist is a supporter of the secession of a province, especially Quebec,^[10] and the AHD also records the word for one who advocates cultural, ethnic or racial separation.^[11]

Timeline

• 1608 – a member of a sect separated from the Church of England.^[2][5]
• before 1645 – a schismatic or sectarian in general.^[2]
• 1830 – adjective, in the church sense.^[2][6]
• 1859 – a Wesleyan Methodist who had advocated separation from the Church of England in 1795–7.^[2]
• 1864 – adjective, in the political sense.^[2]
• 1871 – an advocate of political separation.^[2][6]
• 1903 – a critic who ascribes the Iliad and the Odyssey, or parts of them, to different authors.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person who supports the secession of a group or region from a larger political unit, or its independence or autonomy: The separatists boycotted the regional election.^[8][11][10]
2. A person who advocates cultural, ethnic or racial separation.^[11]
3. A person who leaves, or urges leaving, an established church; a dissenter.^[5][11][9]
4. Separatist (historical): one of the English Protestants of the 16th and 17th centuries who chose to separate from the Church of England rather than reform it.^[8][5][2]
5. (Canada) A supporter of the secession of a province, especially Quebec, from Canada.^[10]

Adjective

1. Supporting or relating to separatism or separatists: separatist leaders.^[5][10][2]

Word family

• separatism
• separatistic
• antiseparatist

Related words

• separate
• separation

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
11. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin