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Etymology and origin of the English word sectional

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1806 Debates in Congress of the United States
Ultimate origins
Middle French sectionEnglish -al
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin seco
Latin sectio
English section
English sectional
From the same root
Latin deseco ← seco
Latin exseco ← seco
Latin inseco ← seco
Latin interseco ← seco
Latin praeseco ← seco
Latin reseco ← seco
Latin sector ← seco
Latin subseco ← seco

Pronunciation

  • /ˈsɛkʃənəl/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English section + -al.[2][3][4][5] The OED compares French sectionnel.[2] Dictionary.com marks it as an Americanism.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Relating to a section or region of a country or a society, often as opposed to the whole: 1806, in the Debates in Congress of the United States.[2][3][6]

Semantic evolution

The regional sense loomed large in American political language in the decades before the Civil War, when sectional interests set North against South.[3] Other senses followed in the 19th century: of a section of a verse in prosody (1838), of the view of a structure as if cut through (1825), and, in geology, of the line along which a section is supposed to be made (1831).[2] The sense "made up of parts that fit together" is recorded from 1875, at first of machines,[2][3] and since 1881 the word has described steel rolled in sections.[2] The noun, a piece of furniture made of units that can be used separately or together, is dated 1901 by Merriam-Webster,[6] but only 1961 by the OED and Etymonline, which record sectional sofa and similar phrases from 1949.[2][3]

Timeline

  • 1806 – of a section of a country or society, often against the general interest.[2][3][6]
  • 1825 – relating to a view of a structure as if cut through.[2]
  • 1838 – in prosody, of a section of a verse.[2]
  • 1848 – of the nature of a section; incomplete.[2]
  • 1875 – made up of several sections fitting together.[2][3]
  • 1901 – noun, a sectional piece of furniture, according to Merriam-Webster.[6]
  • 1949 – sectional sofa, sectional seat.[3]
  • 1961 – noun, a sectional sofa or seat, in the OED.[2][3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Belonging to one part of a larger community, population or territory; local or regional rather than general: sectional interests.[6][7][2]
  2. Made up of sections that fit together or can be used separately: sectional furniture.[7][6][2]
  3. Of or relating to a section, especially showing a structure as if cut through: a sectional view of the engine.[6][2]

Noun

  1. A piece of furniture made of modular units, especially a sofa whose parts can serve as separate seats; chiefly American.[6][2]

Word family

  • sectionally
  • multisectional
  • nonsectional
  • sectionalism
  • sectionalize
  • unsectional
  • section

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
Cite this entry

“Sectional.” Etymologically, 31 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/sectional. Accessed 31 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·