Sec"ta*rist (?), n. A sectary. [R.] T. Warton.
Sec"ta*ry (?), n.;pl. Sectaries (#). [F. sectaire. See Sect.] A
sectarian; a member or adherent of a sect; a follower or disciple of
some particular teacher in philosophy or religion; one who separates
from an established church; a dissenter.
I never knew that time in England when men of truest religion were
not counted sectaries.
Milton.
Sec*ta"tor (?), n. [L., fr. sectari, v. intens. fr. sequi to follow.
See Sue to follow.] A follower; a disciple; an adherent to a sect.
[Obs.] Sir W. Raleigh.
Sec"tile (?), a. [L. sectilis, fr. secare, sectum, to cut: cf. F.
sectile. See Section.] Capable of being cut; specifically (Min.),
capable of being severed by the knife with a smooth cut; -- said of
minerals.
Sec*til"i*ty (?), n. The state or quality of being sectile.
Sec"tion (?), n. [L. sectio, fr. secare, sectum, to cut; akin to E. saw
a cutting instrument: cf. F. section. See Saw, and cf. Scion, Dissect,
Insect, Secant, Segment.] 1. The act of cutting, or separation by
cutting; as, the section of bodies.
2. A part separated from something; a division; a portion; a slice.
Specifically: --
(a) A distinct part or portion of a book or writing; a subdivision of a
chapter; the division of a law or other writing; a paragraph; an
article; hence, the character §, often used to denote such a division.
It is hardly possible to give a distinct view of his several
arguments in distinct sections.
Locke.
(b) A distinct part of a country or people, community, class, or the
like; a part of a territory separated by geographical lines, or of a
people considered as distinct.
The extreme section of one class consists of bigoted dotards, the
extreme section of the other consists of shallow and reckless
empirics.
Macaulay.
(c) One of the portions, of one square mile each, into which the public
lands of the United States are divided; one thirty-sixth part of a
township. These sections are subdivided into quarter sections for sale
under the homestead and preëmption laws.
3. (Geom.) The figure made up of all the points common to a superficies
and a solid which meet, or to two superficies which meet, or to two
lines which meet. In the first case the section is a superficies, in
the second a line, and in the third a point.
4. (Nat. Hist.) A division of a genus; a group of species separated by
some distinction from others of the same genus; -- often indicated by
the sign §.
5. (Mus.) A part of a musical period, composed of one or more phrases.
See Phrase.
6. The description or representation of anything as it would appear if
cut through by any intersecting plane; depiction of what is beyond a
plane passing through, or supposed to pass through, an object, as a
building, a machine, a succession of strata; profile.
In mechanical drawing, as in these Illustrations of a cannon, a
longitudinal section (a) usually represents the object as cut through
its center lengthwise and vertically; a cross or transverse section
(b), as cut crosswise and vertically; and a horizontal section (c), as
cut through its center horizontally. Oblique sections are made at
various angles. In architecture, a vertical section is a drawing
showing the interior, the thickness of the walls, etc., as if made on a
vertical plane passed through a building.
Angular sections (Math.), a branch of analysis which treats of the
relations of sines, tangents, etc., of arcs to the sines, tangents,
etc., of their multiples or of their parts. [R.] -- Conic sections.
(Geom.) See under Conic. -- Section liner (Drawing), an instrument to
aid in drawing a series of equidistant parallel lines, -- used in
representing sections. -- Thin section, a section or slice, as of
mineral, animal, or vegetable substance, thin enough to be transparent,
and used for study under the microscope.
Syn. -- Part; portion; division. -- Section, Part. The English more
commonly apply the word section to a part or portion of a body of men;
as, a section of the clergy, a small section of the Whigs, etc. In the
United States this use is less common, but another use, unknown or but
little known in England, is very frequent, as in the phrases "the
eastern section of our country," etc., the same sense being also given
to the adjective sectional; as, sectional feelings, interests, etc.
Sec"tion*al (?), a. 1. Of or pertaining to a section or distinct part
of larger body or territory; local.
All sectional interests, or party feelings, it is hoped, will
hereafter yield to schemes of ambition.
Story.
2. Consisting of sections, or capable of being divided into sections;
as, a sectional steam boiler.
Sec"tion*al*ism (?), n. A disproportionate regard for the interests
peculiar to a section of the country; local patriotism, as
distinguished from national. [U. S.]
Sec"tion*al"i*ty (?), n. The state or quality of being sectional;
sectionalism.
Sec"tion*al*ize (?), v. t. To divide according to geographical sections
or local interests. [U. S.]
The principal results of the struggle were to sectionalize parties.
Nicolay & Hay (Life of Lincoln).
Sec"tion*al*ly, adv. In a sectional manner.