Isolate: To Make Something Into an Island
To isolate is to separate something from everything around it. The word is built on the Latin for island.
To isolate is to set something apart: a patient, a chemical, a fault in a circuit. The image is geographic — Italian *isolato* means made into an island, from Latin *insula*. Isolation surrounds a thing with distance the way water surrounds land.
- To separate from others. *Isolate the affected animals.*
- To identify one thing among many. *Isolate the cause.*
- To obtain a pure substance. *They isolated the compound.*
- An isolated case. *This is not an isolated incident.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | isolate | Isolate the wire. |
| Past | isolated | An isolated village. |
| Noun | isolation | Kept in isolation. |
| Noun | isolate | A bacterial isolate. |
| Adjective | isolating | An isolating experience. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Engineers isolated the fault to one cable.Narrowing down.
- Patients were isolated for ten days.Medical separation.
- It was an isolated mistake.Meaning one of a kind, not part of a pattern.
Isolation and its neighbours
- Isolation — complete separation
- Quarantine — separation of those possibly exposed, for a set period
- Insulation — a barrier against heat, sound or current
- Seclusion — being away from others by choice
- Solitude — being alone, usually welcome
From Italian *isolato*, made into an island, from Latin *insula*. French turned it into *isolé*, and English made a verb out of the adjective in the eighteenth century.
Isolation or quarantine?
Isolation separates people known to be infected. Quarantine separates those who may have been exposed but are not known to be ill.
Are *isolate* and *insulate* related?
Yes. Both come from *insula*, island. One separates people, the other separates heat or electricity.