divide vs separate

divide

verb
  • To split or separate (something) into two or more parts. 

  • To vote, as in the British parliament and other legislatures, by the members separating themselves into two parties (as on opposite sides of the hall or in opposite lobbies), that is, the ayes dividing from the noes. 

  • To share (something) by dividing it. 

  • To separate into two or more parts. 

  • To mark divisions on; to graduate. 

  • To calculate the number (the quotient) by which you must multiply one given number (the divisor) to produce a second given number (the dividend). 

  • To play or sing in a florid style, or with variations. 

  • To disunite in opinion or interest; to make discordant or hostile; to set at variance. 

  • To be a divisor of. 

  • Of a cell, to reproduce by dividing. 

noun
  • An act of dividing. 

  • A distancing between two people or things. 

  • A large chasm, gorge, or ravine between two areas of land. 

  • The topographical boundary dividing two adjacent catchment basins, such as a ridge or a crest. 

  • A thing that divides. 

separate

verb
  • To divide (a thing) into separate parts. 

  • To disunite from a group or mass; to disconnect. 

  • To cause (things or people) to be separate. 

  • To divide itself into separate pieces or substances. 

noun
  • A printing of an article from a periodical as its own distinct publication and distributed independently, often with different page numbers. 

  • Anything that is sold by itself, especially articles of clothing such as blouses, skirts, jackets, and pants. 

adj
  • Apart from (the rest); not connected to or attached to (anything else). 

  • Not together (with); not united (to). 

How often have the words divide and separate occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )