# section

Pronunciation: say "SEK-shuhn" /ˈsɛkʃən/

## Noun

1. A part, piece, or subdivision of a larger whole.
   - Simple: A part or piece of a larger whole.
   - _A section of the highway near the bridge will be closed for repairs through the end of the month._
   - _The rear section of the plane was almost empty on the flight home._
2. A part of a document, especially a major one, often marked with the symbol §.
   - Simple: A part of a written document, especially a main part, often marked with §.
   - _The lawyer pointed to section four of the agreement._
   - _Updates to the policy were added in a new section._
3. A group of musicians playing instruments of the same family together within an orchestra or band.
   - Simple: A group of musicians in an orchestra or band who play the same kind or family of instrument.
   - _The conductor signaled the woodwind section to come in._
   - _Each section tuned its instruments before the concert began._
4. An image showing an object as if it had been cut along a plane to reveal its interior.
   - Simple: A drawing that shows what something looks like when cut straight through.
   - _The textbook shows a section of the human heart, revealing all four of its chambers._
   - _The architect's drawings included a section through the house, showing how the staircase rises between the floors._
5. A piece cut out and separated from the rest of something.
   - Simple: A piece that has been cut away from something larger.
   - _She sawed a two-foot section off the fallen trunk and rolled it home to use as a stool._
   - _A small section taken from the stem was used to grow a new plant._
7. Short form of Caesarean section. *(colloquial)* — Ellipsis of Caesarean section.
   - Simple: Short form of Caesarean section. A way to deliver a baby through a cut in the belly.
   - _Her first child was delivered by section._
   - _Doctors scheduled a section because of complications._
9. A thin slice of material prepared as a specimen for research, usually examined under a microscope.
   - Simple: A very thin slice of material cut so it can be studied under a microscope.
   - _The technician mounted the section on a slide and viewed it in polarized light._
   - _Each rock section was ground down until light could pass through it._
10. A unit of land area equal to one square mile, used especially in Canadian surveys and in American land grants and legal property descriptions. *(Canada, US)*
   - Simple: A unit of land equal to one square mile, used in some land surveys.
   - _The homesteader filed a claim to a full section of open prairie._
   - _Each section in the township was further divided into smaller lots for settlers._
11. A small unit of soldiers led by a non-commissioned officer and forming part of a platoon; in British, Canadian and Australian infantry, typically eight to ten soldiers, the equivalent of a US squad.
   - Simple: A small group of soldiers, often about eight, that is part of a larger platoon.
   - _The corporal led his section across the open ground._
   - _Two sections combined to secure the bridge._
12. The typographic symbol §, used to denote a part of a document.
   - Simple: The mark §, used to point to a part of a document.
13. The act of cutting through something, especially an incision made during surgery.
   - Simple: A cut made through something, especially a cut a doctor makes during an operation.
   - _Surgical section of the damaged nerve finally relieved the patient's pain._
   - _The operation required section of the tendon just above the ankle._
14. One of several groups of students taught separately in the same course or grade, meeting regularly with a teacher during a school year, semester or quarter; a class. *(US, Canada, Philippines)*
   - Simple: A group of students who meet with the same teacher during a school term.
   - _Professor Lee teaches three sections of introductory biology this semester._
   - _I got moved to the morning section of algebra after the schedule changed._
15. A piece of land set aside for housing; a building plot on which a dwelling stands or may be built. *(New Zealand)*
   - Simple: A piece of land where someone can build or own a home.
   - _They bought a quarter-acre section on the edge of town and drew up house plans._
   - _Half the sections in the new subdivision had already been sold before the road was paved._

## Verb

6. To cut or divide something into parts, especially to cut material into thin slices for study under a microscope.
   - Simple: To cut or divide something into parts, for example into very thin slices to look at under a microscope.
   - _The biologist sectioned the tissue for examination._
   - _Workers section the field into plots before planting._
8. To deliver a baby by performing a cesarean section on the mother.
   - Simple: To deliver a baby by cutting open the mother's belly.
   - _The surgeon sectioned the patient after labor stalled._
   - _After twenty hours of labor with no progress, the obstetrician chose to section her rather than wait any longer._
16. To commit a person to a hospital for mental health treatment as an involuntary patient, under the relevant mental health law. *(Australia, New Zealand, UK)*
   - Simple: To send someone to a mental health hospital for treatment without their consent.
   - _Doctors decided to section him after he became a danger to others._
   - _The hospital sectioned her under the Mental Health Act when she refused treatment._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A taxonomic rank below the genus, and below the subgenus where present, but above the species.
- (noun) In geology or archaeology, a sequence of rock or soil layers as exposed in a vertical cut or recorded in order, or a drawing of it.
- (noun) A length of rolled or formed metal, such as steel, with a standard cross-section (I, H, channel, T, angle or hollow), used as a structural member.
- (noun) A cross-section taken perpendicular to the lengthwise axis of an aircraft in flight.
- (noun) An unofficial taxonomic rank used to group organisms at a level between order and family.
- (noun) A function generalizing the notion of a function's graph; formally, a continuous right inverse to the projection map of a fiber bundle.
- (noun) A right inverse of a morphism in a category: a morphism that, when followed by the original, gives the identity.
- (noun) An element of the set that a sheaf or presheaf assigns to an open set; the notion extends sections of fiber bundles to this more general setting.

## Origin

This word came through Middle English seccioun and Old French section from Latin sectiō ("a cutting, cutting off"), from sectus, the past participle of secāre ("to cut").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/section (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).