Disband and separate both move a group apart, with a difference in scope. Disband is to break up an organized group so that it no longer exists, its members going their separate ways. Separate is to move or keep things apart, or to be distinct — often of a few things, and without ending a whole body. Disband ends the whole group; separate parts things or keeps them distinct.
Both put things apart, but disband ends an organized body and separate simply parts things. Disband, literally 'to un-band', winds up an organized group so its members scatter and nothing of the body remains. Separate, from Latin separare 'to part', moves things away from each other or keeps them distinct, often just a few, without any body ending. A committee disbands and ceases to exist; two members are separated but the committee stands. One ends the whole; the other parts the parts.
disband
To disband is to break up an organized group so that it no longer exists — a band, a team, an army, a committee — and for its members to disperse and go their separate ways. Built from dis- 'apart' and band in its old sense of 'a company bound together', it is usually deliberate and often formal: a leader disbands a unit, or a body votes to disband itself. It can be transitive (they disbanded the choir) or intransitive (the choir disbanded). Close to dissolve, but disband stays with people and organizations.
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.
| disband | separate | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | break up an organized group for good | move or keep apart; be distinct |
| Scope | the whole body ends | a few things parted; the body may stand |
| Of what | an organized group of people | items, groups, the yolk, the sexes |
| Noun | disbandment | separation |
| Example | The unit was disbanded. | Separate the two groups. |
Ask whether a whole body ends or a few things are parted. Disband stands an organized group down until nothing of it remains — a formation loosening, members walking off. Separate moves a few things apart, or keeps them distinct, without any body ending — two magnets drawn to their own sides. If a whole organized group ends, that is disband; if things are parted or kept apart, they are separate.
disband
- iThe regiment was disbanded at the end of the war.
- iiThe committee agreed to disband once its report was published.
- iiiAfter the split, the band disbanded for good.
separate
- iSeparate the ripe fruit from the unripe before packing.
- iiThe referee stepped in to separate the two players.
- iiiThe two schools were kept separate for another decade.
Disband ends a whole organized body — nothing of it remains; separate parts things or keeps them distinct without necessarily ending anything. You can separate two members of a committee while the committee stands; disbanding it ends the whole thing. Watch separate's spelling — an 'a' in the middle.