Etymology : back-formation from isolated set apart, from French isolé, from Italian isolato, from isola island, from Latin insula
Pronunciation : I-s&-"lAt
also i-
Function : transitive verb
Date : 1807
1. solitary, alone; separated from others. isolated\i"so*la`ted\ , a. placed or standing alone; detached; separated from others.isolated point of a curve. (geom.) see:
acnode.isolated adj.
2. not close together in time; "isolated instances of rebellion"; "scattered fire"; "a stray bullet grazed his thigh" [syn: scattered, stray].
3. being or feeling set or kept apart from others; "she felt detached from the group"; "could not remain the isolated figure he had been"- sherwood anderson; "thought of herself as alone and separated from the others"; "had a set-apart feeling" [syn: detached, separated, set-apart].
4. marked by separation of or from usually contiguous elements; "little isolated worlds, as abruptly disjunct and unexpected as a palm-shaded well in the sahara"- scientific monthly [syn: disjunct].
5. cut off or left behind; "an isolated pawn"; "several stranded fish in a tide pool"; "travelers marooned by the blizzard" [syn: marooned, stranded].
6. under forced isolation especially for health reasons; "a quarantined animal"; "isolated patients" [syn: quarantined].
7. remote and separate physically or socially; "existed over the centuries as a world apart"; "preserved because they inhabited a place apart"- w.h.hudson; "tiny isolated villages remote from centers of civilization"; "an obscure village" [syn: apart(p) , obscure].
8. Placed or standing alone; detached; separated from others. not close together in time; "isolated instances of rebellion"; "scattered fire"; "a stray bullet grazed his thigh" under forced isolation especially for health reasons; "a quarantined animal"; "isolated patients" cut off or left behind; "an isolated pawn"; "several stranded fish in a tide pool"; "travelers marooned by the blizzard".
9. To place in a detached situation; to place by itself or alone; to insulate; to separate from others.
10. To insulate.
11. See Insulate.
12. To separate from all foreign substances; to make pure; to obtain in a free state. place or set apart; "They isolated the political prisoners from the other inmates" obtain in pure form; "The chemist managed to isolate the compound" separate fromt he emotions relating to them.
13. 1. An isolated place is a long way away from large towns and is difficult to reach. Many of the refugee villages are in isolated areas = remote.
14. If you feel isolated, you feel lonely and without friends or help. Some patients may become very isolated and depressed. = cut off.
15. An isolated example is an example of something that is not very common. They said the allegations related to an isolated case of cheating. = rare.