English
separator
Separator comes from Latin sēparō ‘to divide, separate’, from parō ‘to arrange, order, contrive, design’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pr̥h₃o-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pr̥h₃o-1reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*paro-1reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEparō1‘to arrange, order, contrive, design’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsēparō1‘to divide, separate’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsēparātor1
- Englishearliest quotation 1979separator1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English separator
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1979, Nancy Walker, Remembering David Brill: “Death, the mystery, the great separator of friend from…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pr̥h₃o-Wiktionary, English separatorreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*paro-Wiktionary, English separatorreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEparōWiktionary, English separator‘to arrange, order, contrive, design’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsēparōWiktionary, English separator‘to divide, separate’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsēparātorWiktionary, English separator
- Englishearliest quotation 1979separatorWiktionary, English separator. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1979, Nancy Walker, Remembering David Brill: “Death, the mystery, the great separator of friend from…”
Linked words
through Latin parō ‘to arrange, order, contrive, design’
empire, imperial, emperor, repair, preparation, empress, apparel, apparatus, parachute, imperium, imperious, disparate, preparatory, pare, rampart, reparation, imperator, 18 more
through Latin sēparō ‘to divide, separate’
Today it means
noun An object located between two or more things and hence separating them.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “separator”. 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- / separator