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sector

Etymology and origin of the Latin word sector

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (secō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin seco
Latin sector
English sector
Latin sectio
English section

Forms

sector m (genitive sectōris, feminine sectrīx); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin seco (“to cut”) + -tor.[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus uses sector zōnārius, a cutpurse, of a man looking around suspiciously.[2][3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It was one who cuts, as a mower in Columella, a guild of sawyers in an inscription, and Cicero's sector collōrum, a cutthroat.[2][3] From Lucilius on it was a buyer of confiscated property at public auction, who resold it.[2][5]

Late Latin used it in geometry for a section of a circle.[6] In medieval Latin it was a haymaker.[7] English sector is recorded in geometry in the 1560s.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses sector zōnārius.[2][4]
  • c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it of a buyer at auction.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses sector collōrum.[3][4]
  • 1560s – English sector is recorded.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A cutter, sector zōnārius a cutpurse, sector collōrum a cutthroat.[2][3]
  2. A buyer of confiscated goods at auction.[2][1]
  3. (Late Latin, geometry) A sector of a circle.[6]

Word family

  • sectōrius
  • faenisector
  • assector
  • cōnsector
  • īnsectātiō
  • īnsectātor
  • īnsector
  • persector

Usage notes

The homograph sector, sectārī is a deponent verb from sequor, “to follow eagerly, attend, pursue”.[2][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill

Borrowed into

Cite this entry

“Sector.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/sector. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·