Etymologically
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This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 19:31. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈsek.ʃən/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English seccioun,[2][3] borrowed from Middle French section or directly borrowed from Latin sectiō (“a cutting, cutting off, division”) (accusative sectiōnem),[4][3] from sectus, the past participle of secāre (“to cut”),[2][3] from Proto-Indo-European *sek- (“to cut”).[3][2][5] It is related to saw, insect and sector.[4][6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A division, an intersection: about 1319;[4] Etymonline dates seccioun in astronomy, “the intersection of two straight lines; a division of a scale”, to the late 14th century.[3]

Semantic evolution

A part cut off or separated from the rest is from the early 15th century.[3] The act of cutting or dividing, from the 1550s (1559), is now rare except in medical phrases such as Caesarean section.[3][8] A subdivision of a written work or statute is from the 1570s (1576).[3][8] A drawing of something as if cut through is from the 1660s.[3] A separate part of a population or community is from 1832.[8] In United States history a section was a square mile of public land, 640 acres, from 1785.[3][9] A group of similar instruments in an orchestra is from 1880.[3] The verb meant “to divide into sections” in 1819, in Keats,[4][3] and in British use “to detain someone compulsorily in a mental hospital”, under a section of the Mental Health Act, from 1984.[8] In American military slang of the Second World War, section eight was a discharge for insanity, after a section of the Army Regulations.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 1319 – a division, intersection.[4]
  • early 15th century – a part cut off.[3]
  • 1559 – the act of cutting.[8]
  • 1576 – a subdivision of a book or statute.[8]
  • 1660s – a cross-sectional drawing.[3]
  • 1785 – a square mile of land (US).[3]
  • 1819 – verb, to divide into sections.[4]
  • 1880 – a section of an orchestra.[3]
  • 1984 – verb, to detain in a mental hospital.[8]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. One of the parts into which something is divided; a segment.
  2. A subdivision of a book, document or law.
  3. A separate part of a newspaper: the sports section.
  4. A distinct area of a town or country.
  5. A group of similar instruments in an orchestra.
  6. A view or drawing of something as if cut straight through; a cross section.
  7. (surgery) A cutting; a Caesarean section.
  8. (US) A unit of land of one square mile.

Verb

  1. To divide into parts.
  2. (surgery) To cut through tissue.
  3. (British) To detain under the Mental Health Act.

Word family

  • x-section
  • midsection
  • multisection
  • sectional
  • subsection
  • C-section
  • dissection
  • conic section
  • bisect
  • dissect
  • insect
  • intersect
  • prosect
  • resect
  • secant
  • sect
  • sectarian
  • sectary
  • sector
  • segment
  • trisect
  • saw
  • sickle

Usage notes

In Northumberland and Durham coal mining a section was a detailed account of each stratum passed through in a boring.[10]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  10. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)