section

Forms

section f (plural sections)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin sectiō (“a cutting, division”), from secō (“to cut, divide”).^[2][3][1][4] In Latin it also meant a sale by lots at auction and, in geometry, a division.^[2][5] The Latin verb is the source of scier and of secteur.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1366, in a royal ordinance, with the sense “dissension, split”.^[6][3] In this sense it was influenced by secte, a word of different origin; the use has disappeared.^[2]

Semantic evolution

From the late 14th century (about 1380) it meant the act of cutting and its result, and the idea of division has run through all its later uses.^[2][6] Geometry took it up in 1564 for a figure produced by the intersection of two others, as in sections coniques (Pascal, 1654) and point de section (1694); medicine used it (1598) where modern French says dissection.^[2][6] Furetière records it in 1690 for a drawing in cross-section.^[6]

As an abstract division it named a part of a written work (Pascal, 1657–1658), then, during the Revolution, a subdivision of a court (1789) and an administrative division, such as the sections of Paris.^[6] The army used it from 1798 for a subdivision of a company.^[7] In the 20th century it was applied to a stretch of a road or of a bus route (1949), to the rhythm section of a jazz band (about 1945) and, in nuclear physics, to the section efficace “cross section” (1953).^[7][6]

Timeline

• 1366 – First recorded, meaning “dissension, split”.^[6][3]
• c. 1380 – Used for the act of cutting.^[2][3]
• 1564 – Forcadel uses it in geometry in his translation of Euclid.^[6][8]
• 1654 – Pascal writes of sections coniques.^[6][2]
• 1657–1658 – Pascal uses it for a division of a written work.^[6]
• 1690 – Furetière records the sense “drawing in section”.^[6]
• 1694 – The Académie records point de section.^[6]
• 1789 – Sieyès uses it for a subdivision of a court.^[6]
• 1798 – It names a subdivision of an army company.^[7]
• 1793 – The derivative sectionnaire is used of members of the Paris sections.^[6]
• 1949 – Used of a section of a route.^[7]
• 1953 – Section efficace appears in nuclear physics.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (geometry) The figure produced by the intersection of two others, as of a solid by a plane: section conique, section plane.^[7][6]
2. The shape a thing shows when cut across, its cross section.^[7]
3. A drawing of a building or machine as if cut by a vertical plane.^[7]
4. The act of cutting, or the fact of being cut.^[7][8]
5. A part or branch of a group or organisation, such as the local section of a party, a polling district, a class stream at school.^[7]
6. (military) A platoon, the subdivision of a company commanded by a lieutenant.^[7]
7. A part of a book or treatise.^[7][6]
8. A stretch of a road or railway line, or a fare stage of a bus line.^[7]
9. Section rythmique: the rhythm section of a jazz band.^[7]
10. (nuclear physics) Section efficace: the cross section, the probability that a particle will interact with another.^[7][6]

Word family

• sectionnaire

Related words

• secteur
• scier
• Latin sectiō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 11, 379b
5. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r 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
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette