separate
The barriers separate separate lanes on the highway.
The sentence describes how barriers divide distinct lanes on a highway from each other.
Meanings
to divide, set apart, or keep distinct from each other
- The teacher separated the squabbling students.
- We separated the recyclables from the trash.
distinct from each other; not joined or connected
- The twins have separate bedrooms.
- Keep your work and personal email separate.
Word origin
From Latin sēparāre ('to set apart'), formed from sē- ('apart') + parāre ('to prepare, arrange'). The verb-adjective pattern follows the same /eɪt/-vs-/ət/ ending pattern as 'moderate', 'estimate', 'appropriate', 'graduate', 'deliberate', and 'intimate' — verb gets a clear /eɪt/, adjective reduces to schwa.
Fun fact
The Latin parāre ('to prepare') is the root of many English words involving setting up: 'prepare', 'repair', 'apparatus', 'parade', and 'apparel'. To 'separate' is literally 'to prepare apart' — a Latin metaphor of arrangement that Modern English has lost the literal sense of.