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secteur

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Etymology and origin of the French word secteur

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1542 Charles de Bovelles, Géométrie More words from the 16th century
Borrowed from
Latin sector
Ultimate origin
Latin secō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin secō
French scier
Italian segare
Latin sector
English sector
French secteur
Romanian sector
From the same root
English bisect ← secō
Latin dēsecō ← secō
Latin dissecō ← secō
Latin exsecō ← secō
Latin īnsecō ← secō
Latin īnsicium ← secō
Latin intersecō ← secō
Latin praesecō ← secō
Latin resecō ← secō
Latin sectiō ← secō
Latin segmentum ← secō
Latin subseco ← secō
Latin cōnsector ← sector
Latin īnsector ← sector

Pronunciation

  • /sɛk.tœʁ/[1]

Forms

secteur m (plural secteurs)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin sector, an agent noun that in classical Latin meant “one who cuts”, also “murderer”, “reaper” and “buyer of confiscated goods sold in lots”, and that in Late Latin (Boethius) became a term of geometry.[2][3][4][5][6] It is derived from secō (“to cut, divide”).[3][5][7] The Latin word also gave by regular sound change Old Occitan seytre (“reaper”) (15th century).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In 1542 Charles de Bovelles uses secteur in geometry for the solid generated by a sector of a circle turning about a radius, now called secteur sphérique.[2][3][5]

Semantic evolution

The plane figure bounded by two radii and an arc is named in 1564 (Forcadel's Euclid), and concretely the word named instruments with a part of a circle (1762, in astronomy).[2][3][7] In military use it named the part of a fortified enclosure under one officer (1871), then (1904) the part of a territory where a large unit operated; from this sense, close to zone, it passed into general use.[2][3][8]

From 1907 it named a subdivision of an electricity network, and by metonymy (1933) the mains current itself.[3][2] The First World War brought secteur postal (1916) and, in soldiers' slang, the sense “any place” (1919), the source of the familiar “area, spot”.[3][2] It then came to mean an administrative subdivision of a town (1932–1933) and a part or field of a whole, especially in economics: secteur privé (1939), secteur public (1955), secteur primaire, secondaire, tertiaire (1958).[2][3]

Timeline

  • 1542 – Charles de Bovelles uses it for a sector of a sphere.[2][3][5]
  • 1564 – Forcadel's Euclid uses secteur de cercle.[2][7]
  • 1762 – It names an astronomical instrument.[3][9]
  • 1835 – Secteur sphérique is recorded by the Académie.[8][3]
  • 1871 – Littré records the sense “part of a fortified enclosure”.[2][3]
  • 1904 – It names the zone of operations of a large military unit.[3][8]
  • 1907 – It names a subdivision of an electricity network.[3]
  • 1916 – Secteur postal appears.[3]
  • 1919 – Soldiers' slang uses it for “any place”.[2][3]
  • 1933 – It names the mains electric current.[2][3]
  • 1939 – Secteur privé is recorded.[3]
  • 1958 – Secteur primaire, secondaire, tertiaire appear.[2]
  • 1960 – The adjective sectoriel is formed after English sectorial.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (geometry) A part of a plane bounded by two radii and an arc;[2][9][1] secteur circulaire, secteur sphérique.[2][9][1]
  2. (computing) A part of a track on a disk holding one block of data.[9]
  3. (technical) An instrument or device with a part of a circle.[9][3]
  4. (military) A part of a front or territory entrusted to a unit.[2][3]
  5. A subdivision of an electricity network; the mains current: une lampe branchée sur le secteur.[2][3]
  6. An administrative subdivision of a town or region: secteur sauvegardé.[2][3]
  7. (economics) A field of activity, a sector: secteur public, secteur privé, secteur tertiaire.[2][1][3]
  8. (familiar) An area, a spot, the neighbourhood: Il n'y a pas de boulangerie dans le secteur.[1][3]

Word family

  • sectoriel
  • sectoriser
  • sectorisation
  • sous-secteur

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f 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 r s Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 11, 381b
  7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Secteur.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/secteur. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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