You can picture two things that used to sit side by side being pulled apart, so that a gap opens between them: both are still there, but each now stands in its own place. Everything else the word does is that gap moved somewhere new — different rooms, different bills, different lives.
From the word’s history
From Latin separatus, past participle of separare 'to pull apart', from se- 'apart' + parare 'make ready, prepare'. The se- 'apart' piece is still carrying the whole word: whatever is separate has been set away from something else.
來自拉丁文 separare「拉開」，由 se-（分開、離開）加上 parare（備妥、準備）組成；英文在 15 世紀初先有「把某物拆開」的及物用法。真正撐住這個字的就是那個 se-：凡是 separate 的東西，都是被從別的東西旁邊挪開了。
Online Etymology Dictionary (etymonline.com), entry 'separate'
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原始詞典資料1 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
separatelyadv/ˈsɛp.(ə.)ɹət.li/
- 1
In a separate manner; not together; apart.
- We've been living separately for three years.
- Tackle the different parts of the climb separately before attempting the whole thing in one go.
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。