S-E-P-A-R-A-T-E. Separate.
It’s pronounced seprit or sep-uh-rit, although there is a heteronym that is spelled the same way, but pronounced sep-uh-rayte. The latter is a verb, but we’re talking about the adjective separate today.
I started out here by spelling the word out, and that’s not some cute intro or accidental placement. I think I always tended to screw this one up as a kid, replacing that first A with another E instead. I know I’m not alone!
Separate the Adjective (sounds like Spaceballs the Movie to me, so I’m capitalizing it) means that things are kept apart from one another, or one thing is entirely in its own category. Distinct is a close cousin, but it really means that things are clearly different. Things can be separate without being distinct, and they can be distinct without being separate.
Separate the Adjective has its etymological roots in Latin. Separatus is the past participle of separare, which means to pull apart. Parare means to prepare something, and se- means apart. Put them together, and you ultimately ended up with an adjective meaning a state of having been pulled apart.
Here’s one final separate thought for today.
Take the phrase set apart, which is another way to say Separate the Adjective. Now, rearrange the words just so, and you end up with S-E-P-A-R-T-A-T. This sounds like a tattoo that’s set apart from all of your other tattoos.
Witty zaparte goes here.
I adore it when words are spelt/spelled in the same way and have different meanings and uses and sometimes no difference at all (spelt/spelled one example!) there are one or two differences between English English and American English though, naturally!