section English · revision 3243

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1319|origins=la secāre}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈsek.ʃən/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|seccioun]],^(AHD 2000)^(Etymonline) [[bor|frm|section]] or directly [[bor|la|sectiō|t=a cutting, cutting off, division]] (accusative sectiōnem),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from sectus, the past participle of [[m|la|secāre|t=to cut]],^(AHD 2000)^(Etymonline) from [[ine-pro|*sek-|t=to cut]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000)^(Hoad 1986) It is related to [[saw]], [[insect]] and [[sector]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A division, an intersection: about 1319;^(Barnhart 1988) Etymonline dates seccioun in astronomy, “the intersection of two straight lines; a division of a scale”, to the late 14th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A part cut off or separated from the rest is from the early 15th century.^(Etymonline) The act of cutting or dividing, from the 1550s (1559), is now rare except in medical phrases such as ''Caesarean section''.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) A subdivision of a written work or statute is from the 1570s (1576).^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) A drawing of something as if cut through is from the 1660s.^(Etymonline) A separate part of a population or community is from 1832.^(OED 1989) In United States history a section was a square mile of public land, 640 acres, from 1785.^(Etymonline)^(AHD) A group of similar instruments in an orchestra is from 1880.^(Etymonline) The verb meant “to divide into sections” in 1819, in Keats,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and in British use “to detain someone compulsorily in a mental hospital”, under a section of the Mental Health Act, from 1984.^(OED 1989) In American military slang of the Second World War, ''section eight'' was a discharge for insanity, after a section of the Army Regulations.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1319 – a division, intersection.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * early 15th century – a part cut off.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1559 – the act of cutting.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1576 – a subdivision of a book or statute.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1660s – a cross-sectional drawing.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1785 – a square mile of land (US).^(Etymonline)

+ * 1819 – verb, to divide into sections.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1880 – a section of an orchestra.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1984 – verb, to detain in a mental hospital.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # One of the parts into which something is divided; a [[segment]].^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A subdivision of a book, document or law.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # A separate part of a newspaper: ''the sports section''.^(AHD)

+ # A distinct area of a town or country.^(AHD)

+ # A group of similar instruments in an [[orchestra]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # A view or drawing of something as if cut straight through; a [[cross section]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(surgery)'' A cutting; a [[Caesarean section]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(US)'' A unit of land of one square mile.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To divide into parts.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(surgery)'' To cut through tissue.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(British)'' To detain under the Mental Health Act.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[x-section]]

+ * [[midsection]]

+ * [[multisection]]

+ * [[sectional]]

+ * [[subsection]]

+ * [[C-section]]

+ * [[dissection]]

+ * [[conic section]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[bisect]]

+ * [[dissect]]

+ * [[insect]]

+ * [[intersect]]

+ * [[prosect]]

+ * [[resect]]

+ * [[secant]]

+ * [[sect]]

+ * [[sectarian]]

+ * [[sectary]]

+ * [[sector]]

+ * [[segment]]

+ * [[trisect]]

+ * [[saw]]

+ * [[sickle]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Northumberland and Durham coal mining a ''section'' was a detailed account of each stratum passed through in a boring.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}