separate

v.

1. To cause to part

   part, divide, undo, distribute, sever, sunder; see also divide 1.

2. To keep apart

   isolate, insulate, single out, sequester, seclude, rope off, segregate, intervene, stand between, draw apart, split up, break up.

3. To part company

   take leave, go away, depart; see leave 1.

4. To classify

   assign, distribute, group; see classify, order 3.

separate implies the putting apart of things previously united, joined, or assembled to separate machine parts, a family, etc.; divide implies a separation into parts, pieces, groups, etc. by or as by cutting, splitting, branching, etc., often for purposes of apportionment to divide the profits into equal shares; part is now usually applied to the separation of persons or things that have been closely connected or associated refused to part with his teddy bearsever implies a forcible and complete separation, as by cutting off a part from a whole to sever a branch from a tree, severed all relations with her brother; sunder, now largely a literary term, implies a violent splitting, tearing, or wrenching apart