Concentrate and separate are opposites. Concentrate is to draw scattered things together to one central point, to make something denser, or to focus. Separate is to move or keep things apart, or (as an adjective) to be distinct and unconnected. Concentrate gathers to a point; separate holds apart as distinct.
One draws things to a single dense point; the other pulls them apart or keeps them so. Concentrate, from centrum 'centre', gathers scattered things to a central point, packs a substance denser, or focuses the mind. Separate, from Latin separare 'to part', moves things away from each other or simply keeps them distinct. Wealth is concentrated in a few hands; the two funds are kept separate. One masses things together; the other insists on the space between.
concentrate
To concentrate is to gather toward one centre until it is strong — from the Latin com- 'together' and centrum 'centre'. Scattered forces concentrate at a border; a reader concentrates on a page, pulling stray attention to one point; boiling concentrates a juice by driving off its water. As a noun, a concentrate is what is left when the water is gone: the same substance, no longer spread thin. To consolidate holdings is close, but concentrate keeps the sense of intensity growing as things gather.
separate
To separate is to move things apart or to keep them apart — you separate two fighters, separate the yolk from the white, separate a class into groups. From the Latin separare, 'to disjoin'. Where you divide a whole into parts, to separate more often pulls already-distinct things away from each other, or sorts a mixture. As an adjective — and pronounced differently — separate means distinct or unconnected: three separate rooms, a separate issue. It is the quiet opposite of join.
| concentrate | separate | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | gather to one point; make denser | move or keep apart; be distinct |
| Direction | inward, to a centre | apart, or held distinct |
| The result | massed, dense at a point | distinct, with space between |
| Often with | attention, power, forces, a solution | items, groups, the yolk, the sexes |
| Noun | concentration | separation |
| Example | Wealth was concentrated. | Separate the two piles. |
Ask whether things are massed to a point or held apart. Concentrate draws scattered things inward to one dense centre — light pulled to a burning dot. Separate pulls things apart until a clean gap stands between them — two magnets sliding to their own sides. If things gather densely to a point, that is concentrate; if they are moved apart or kept distinct, they are separate.
concentrate
- iWealth became concentrated in a few hands.
- iiThe lens concentrates the light onto one spot.
- iiiShe concentrated her energy on the final task.
separate
- iSeparate the ripe fruit from the unripe before packing.
- iiThe two funds were kept separate.
- iiiSeparate the yolks from the whites.
Concentrate masses things to a point and packs them dense; separate holds things apart with space between, and is both verb and adjective (distinct). The pair is common in economics — wealth or power concentrated in few hands versus kept separate or spread. Watch the spelling — separate has an 'a' in the middle.