Apart

How to spell apart

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce apart

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does apart mean?

1. adverbSeparated by distance, time, or relationship; into pieces.

Apart in a sentence

• The two towns lie forty miles apart.

• The old radio fell apart when he picked it up.

Where does apart come from?

Language of origin: French

This word entered English in the 1300s from the Old French phrase 'a part', which meant 'to one side' or 'aside'. The 'a' came from the Latin preposition 'ad', meaning 'to' or 'toward', while 'part' came from the Latin 'pars', meaning 'a portion or piece'. So the literal sense was 'to the side', the idea of setting something off on its own. Over time English fused the two words into a single adverb describing separation in space, time, or condition. The same Latin 'pars' survives in everyday relatives such as 'partition', 'particle', and 'depart', and remembering that it is one word, not two, is the main spelling point.

How the word is built

• a- (to, into)
• part (a portion or piece, from Latin pars)