Which to use
“separate” and “seperate” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,577
- “separate” frequency rank
- #36,333
- “seperate” frequency rank
- 37910
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | separate | seperate |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To divide (a thing) into separate parts. | Obsolete form of separate. |
Letter map: separate vs seperate
Shared letters muted; letters that set separate and seperate apart highlighted. Shared run: 7.
Corpus notes: separate and seperate
separate and seperate are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by a single letter - a in “separate” becomes e in “seperate”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37910, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
separate is recorded at frequency rank #1,577, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈsɛp.(ə.)ɹət/. seperate is at rank #36,333, tagged as averb.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 37910, this pair ranks #290,447 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of separate vs seperate
Shared letters: aeprst. Private to "separate": -. Private to "seperate": -.
"separate" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV · "seperate" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "separate" and "seperate" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "separate" or "seperate"?
After this comparison
You've compared "separate" and "seperate". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "separate" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "seperate" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #290,447 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "separate" and "seperate" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "seperate vs sewerage". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #290,447 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.