isolation

1 a state of separation between persons or groups

2 the act of isolating something; setting something apart from others [syn: closing off]

3 a feeling of being disliked and alone

4 preference for seclusion or isolation [syn: reclusiveness]

5 (psychiatry) a defense mechanism in which memory of an unacceptable act or impulse is separated from the emotion originally associated with it

6 a country's withdrawal from internal politics; "he opposed a policy of American isolation"

English

Etymology

First as past participle "isolated", from Italian isolato, "secluded", from isola, "island", from Latin insula, "island".

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -eɪʃǝn

Noun

1. The act of isolating.
2. The state of being isolated, detached, or separated.

Translations

• French: isolation
• German: Isolation (1,2)
• Greek: απομόνωση
• Hebrew: בידוד (bidod)
• Polish: izolacja , odcięcie
• Portuguese: isolamento

Related terms

• insulate
• insulation
• isolate
• isolatedness

French

Noun

fr-noun f

1. isolation
2. insulation

Related terms

• isoler

The term Isolation may refer to:

• Solitude, the psychological phenomenon
• Solitary confinement
• Isolation tank, sensory deprivation tank
• Isolating language, description of a language type
• Isolation effect, also known as the Von Restorff effect, psychological effect of distinctive items more easily 'remembered'
• People or tribes living in isolation from the outside world.

In politics

• Splendid isolation, British foreign policy of the late 19th century
• Encirclement, of an opposing force in warfare
• Isolationism, political phenomenon where a country removes itself from international affairs

In games and entertainment

• Isolation (poker), raise designed to encourage others to fold
• Isolation (film), 2005 Irish horror movie written and directed by Billy O'Brian
• "Isolation" (John Lennon song) (1970) by John Lennon
• "Isolation" (Joy Division song) (1980) by Joy Division
• Isolation (album) (1984), album by Toto
• Isolation (1996), album by Die Krupps

In other uses

• Isolation (database systems), in computer science
• Isolator switch for electrical isolation.
• Optical isolator, permitting passage of light in only one direction
• Isolation (illusion), an illusion where a ball or other object is made to appear stationary in space.
• Topographic isolation in geodesy, surveying, and mountaineering
• Speciation, separation of two populations of a species
• Isolated point in topology (mathematics)

See also

• Insulation

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