aparta

Aparta is a common form of the Spanish verb apartar, which means to separate, move away, or set aside. In standard grammar, aparta is the third‑person singular present indicative (él/ella/usted aparta). It is also the affirmative informal tú imperative form (¡aparta!), used to tell someone to move something away or to set something aside.

Apartar has a broad range of uses beyond physical movement. It can mean to exclude or detach in a figurative sense, such as apartar a person from a group or apartar pruebas (to set aside or dismiss evidence). It can also refer to delaying or postponing something, as in apartarse a later time, or to physically diverging from a path, as in apartarse del camino.

Etymology traces apartar to a prefix meaning “away” combined with a root related to separation or division, yielding senses that cover both concrete actions (moving objects) and abstract actions (excluding, postponing, or differentiating). The word is widely used across Spanish-speaking countries, with regional nuances in formality and emphasis.

Related forms include apartar (infinitive), apartando (present participle), aparto/apartas/aparta (various persons and tenses), and apartadero (a place to set things aside). The noun aparta is not standard; the related noun apartación or apartamiento appears in some contexts to denote an act of setting apart or separation.

See also: apartar, apartado, separación, detención.