Etymograph

English

separation

Separation comes from Latin separatio ‘severing, separation’, from parō ‘to arrange’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pr̥h₃o-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pr̥h₃o-1reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*paro-1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEparō1‘to arrange’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsēparō2‘to divide, separate’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEseparatio3‘severing, separation’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400separacion3
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500separacioun3
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1595separation3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin separo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin separatio
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English separation
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1595, William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream: “[…] gentle friend, for love and courtesy Lie further…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pr̥h₃o-Wiktionary, Latin separoreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*paro-Wiktionary, Latin separoreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEparōWiktionary, Latin separo‘to arrange’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsēparōWiktionary, Latin separatio‘to divide, separate’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEseparatioWiktionary, English separation‘severing, separation’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400separacionWiktionary, English separation
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500separaciounWiktionary, English separation
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1595separationWiktionary, English separation. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1595, William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream: “[…] gentle friend, for love and courtesy Lie further…”

Formed from separate + -ion

Proto-Indo-European *pr̥h₃o-

…

Latin sēparō ‘to divide, separate’

Latin sēparātus ‘divided’

Middle English separat ‘separated’

Middle English separaten ‘to separate’

English separate

The story

Attested in the 15th Century C.E.; from Middle English separacioun, from Old French separacion, from Latin separatio, separationem.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Latin parō ‘to arrange’

empire, emperor, imperial, repair, empress, apparel, preparation, apparatus, parachute, preparatory, disparate, imperium, imperious, pare, rampart, imperator, reparation, 18 more

through Latin sēparō ‘to divide, separate’

several, severance, inseparable, 4 more

Today it means

noun The act of disuniting two or more things, or the condition of being separated.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “separation”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin separo, Latin separatio. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pr̥h₃o- / separation

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