sectio

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈsɛk.ti.oː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈsɛk.t͡si.o]^[1]

Forms

sectiō f (genitive sectiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin seco (“to cut”) + -tiō.^[2][1] secō continues Proto-Italic *sekaō, from Proto-Indo-European *sek- (“to cut”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Varro, in On Agriculture, uses it of the sale of goods at a public auction.^[2] Köbler dates Varro 116–27 BC.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In Republican Latin it was the buying up of captured or confiscated property at public auction, or the goods so sold, as in Cicero's Philippics.^[2][4] From Vitruvius on it was cutting, as of bodies that cannot be divided, and Lewis & Short note this general sense is post-Augustan.^[2][5] Pliny the Elder uses it of mowing, Celsus of surgical cutting, and Apuleius of castration.^[2][4] Gellius speaks of the cutting up of a body.^[5]

In medieval Latin it was haymaking, and in British sources pruning, cutting off as punishment and a surgical operation.^[6][7] English section is recorded in the late 14th century in astronomy.^[8]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of an auction.^[2][3]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of confiscated goods.^[4][3]
• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of cutting.^[2][3]
• late 14th century – English section is recorded.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. Cutting, severing; mowing.^[2][5]
2. Surgical cutting; castration.^[2][4]
3. The buying of confiscated goods at auction; the goods so sold.^[2][4]
4. Division, section.^[1]
5. (Medieval Latin) Haymaking.^[6]

Related words

• secō
• English section

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com