n.
- any of the more or less distinct parts into which something is or may be divided or from which it is made up.
▸N. Amer. a measure of land, equal to one square mile.
▸chiefly N. Amer. a particular district of a town.
▸NZ a building plot.
- a distinct group within a larger body of people or things.
▸a subdivision of an army platoon.
▸Biology a secondary taxonomic category, especially a subgenus.
- the cutting of a solid by or along a plane.
▸the shape resulting from cutting a solid along a plane.
▸a representation of the internal structure of something as if it has been cut through.
- Surgery a separation by cutting.
- Biology a thin slice of plant or animal tissue prepared for microscopic examination.
v.
- divide into sections.
- Surgery divide by cutting.
- Brit. commit (someone) compulsorily to a psychiatric hospital in accordance with a section of a mental health act.
Derivative
- sectional adj.
- sectionalize
or sectionalise v. - sectionally adv.
- sectioned adj.
Etymology
ME: from Fr. section or L. sectio(n-), from secare ‘to cut’.