sec·tion
(sĕḱshən)
[Middle English seccioun, from Old French, from Latin sectiō, sectiōn-, from sectus past participle of secāre, to cut.]
noun
- One of several components; a piece.
- A subdivision of a written work.
- Law A division of a statute or code.
- A distinct portion of a newspaper: the sports section.
- A distinct area of a town, county, or country: a residential section.
- A land unit equal to one square mile (2.59 square kilometers), 640 acres, or of a township.
- The act or process of separating or cutting, especially the surgical cutting or dividing of tissue.
- A thin slice, as of tissue, suitable for microscopic examination.
- A segment of a fruit, especially a citrus fruit.
- Representation of a solid object as it would appear if cut by an intersecting plane, so that the internal structure is displayed.
- Music A group of instruments or voices in the same class considered as a division of a band, orchestra, or choir: the rhythm section; the woodwind section.
- A class or discussion group of students taking the same course: She taught three sections of English composition.
- A portion of railroad track maintained by a single crew.
- An area in a train's sleeping car containing an upper and lower berth.
- An army tactical unit smaller than a platoon and larger than a squad.
- A unit of vessels or aircraft within a division of armed forces.
- One of two or more vehicles, such as a bus or train, given the same route and schedule, often used to carry extra passengers.
- The character (§) used in printing to mark the beginning of a section.
- This character used as the fourth in a series of reference marks for footnotes.
transitive verb: -tioned, -tion·ing, -tions.
- To separate or divide into parts.
- To cut or divide (tissue) surgically.
- To shade or crosshatch (part of a drawing) to indicate sections.
