Etymologically
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séparer

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 14:02. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /se.pa.ʁe/[1]

Forms

séparer[1] The Académie wrote separer in 1694 and 1718, séparer from 1740.[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin sēparō (“to set apart, separate; to distinguish”).[2][3][4][5][6][1] The Latin verb is from sē-, marking separation (see séduire), and parō (“to prepare, arrange”) (see parer).[3][7][8] Its inherited outcome is sevrer, the older French form, of which “séparer” is a learned doublet remade on the Latin in the 14th century.[3][8][1]

Compare Old Occitan separar, Spanish separar and Italian separare.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Henri de Mondeville's Chirurgie (1314) has separer les choses conjointes, to stop things being together or forming a whole, and to set apart the elements of a mixture.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Se séparer “to divide” is from about 1398.[3] About 1330 it meant to keep apart from, and in 1375–79 to put at a distance in space; at the end of the 15th century a distance sépare places.[2][3] In 1549 it meant to distinguish by an operation of the mind, in 1552 to break up an agreement or a union, and, from 1559 to come between fighters.[2][3] Boileau (1674) has du bon or je separe le faulx.[2] Spouses who live apart are séparés, séparés de corps in law.[9][10]

Timeline

  • 1314 – Separer, Henri de Mondeville.[2]
  • c. 1330 – To keep apart, Guillaume de Digulleville.[2]
  • 1370 – Séparément, Oresme.[4]
  • 1549 – To distinguish, Robert Estienne.[2]
  • 1552 – To break up a union.[2]
  • 1559 – To part fighters.[2]
  • 1740 – The spelling séparer, Académie.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To separate, part, divide: séparer le blanc du jaune, séparer deux combattants.[1][2]
  2. To set apart, sort: séparer le bon grain de l'ivraie.[1][2]
  3. To form a boundary between: la rivière sépare les deux villages.[3][7]
  4. To distinguish (in the mind): séparer deux notions.[2][3]
  5. To estrange, split up: la guerre les a séparés.[2][1]
  6. Se séparer: to part, split up; to divide: ils se sont séparés, la route se sépare en deux.[1][3]

Word family

  • séparément
  • séparable
  • inséparable
  • séparatiste
  • séparé

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 11, 474b
  7. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  8. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)