isolate

[ verb ahy-suh-leyt; noun adjective ahy-suh-lit, -leyt ]

verb (used with object)

, i·so·lat·ed, i·so·lat·ing.

1. to set or place apart; detach or separate so as to be alone.
2. Medicine/Medical. to keep (an infected person) from contact with noninfected persons; quarantine.
3. Chemistry, Bacteriology. to obtain (a substance or microorganism) in an uncombined or pure state.
4. Electricity. to insulate.
5. Television. to single out (a person, action, etc.) for a camera closeup.

noun

1. a person, thing, or group that is set apart or isolated, as for purposes of study.
2. Psychology. a person, often shy or lacking in social skills, who avoids the company of others and has no friends within a group.
3. Biology. an inbreeding population that is isolated from similar populations by physiological, behavioral, or geographic barriers.
4. Also called lan·guage i·so·late [lang, -gwij , ahy, -s, uh, -lit]. Linguistics. a language with no demonstrable genetic relationship, as Basque.
5. something that has been isolated, as a by-product in a manufacturing process:

   an isolate of soy flour.

adjective

1. isolated; alone.

isolate

verb

1. to place apart; cause to be alone
2. med to quarantine (a person or animal) having or suspected of having a contagious disease
3. to obtain (a compound) in an uncombined form
4. to obtain pure cultures of (bacteria, esp those causing a particular disease)
5. electronics to prevent interaction between (circuits, components, etc); insulate

noun

1. an isolated person or group

Derived Forms

• ˈisolable, adjective
• ˈisoˌlator, noun
• ˌisolaˈbility, noun

Other Words From

• i·so·la·tor noun
• re·i·so·late verb (used with object) reisolated reisolating
• un·i·so·late verb (used with object) unisolated unisolating

Word History and Origins

Origin of isolate¹

First recorded in 1800–10; back formation from isolated

Word History and Origins

Origin of isolate¹

C19: back formation from isolated, via Italian from Latin insulātus, literally: made into an island; see insulate

Example Sentences

In this case, he said, AI was “really like an editing tool” that enabled the Beatles to isolate a John Lennon vocal recording from the late ’70s “that was previously maybe unusable.”

From Los Angeles Times

"We need to isolate it from future populations or even civilisations, that’s the timescale we’re looking at," says Prof Corkhill.

From BBC

The Labor Department said it was likely the lower-than-expected jobs added were affected by the hurricanes because its survey is not designed to "isolate effects from extreme weather events", adding it was difficult to quantify the full impact.

From BBC

Dr Stein says cults, including the Federal Postal Court, attempt to isolate members from their loved ones.

From BBC

"If you isolate people and make the outside world seem to be wicked and bad and damaging, they’ve got nowhere else to turn other than the group and that locks them in."

From BBC

Related Words

• confine
• detach
• disconnect
• disengage
• divide
• insulate
• remove
• segregate
• separate
• sequester