section

Etymology

From Middle English seccioun, from Old French section, from Latin sectiō (“cutting, cutting off, excision, amputation of diseased parts of the body, etc.”), from sectus, past participle of secāre (“to cut”). More at saw.

noun

1. A cutting; a part cut out from the rest of something.
2. A part, piece, subdivision of anything.
   Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […]. Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. […] But the scandals kept coming, and so we entered stage three – what therapists call "bargaining". A broad section of the political class now recognises the need for change but remains unable to see the necessity of a fundamental overhaul. Instead it offers fixes and patches. 2013-06-28, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are out of control”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 3, page 21
   1. (music) A group of instruments in an orchestra.
      The horn section is the group of symphonic musicians who play the French horn.
3. A part of a document, especially a major part; often notated with §.
4. An act or instance of cutting.
5. A cross-section (image that shows an object as if cut along a plane).
   1. (aviation) A cross-section perpendicular the longitudinal axis of an aircraft in flight.
6. (surgery) An incision or the act of making an incision.
   1. (surgery, colloquial) Short for Caesarean section.
      They had planned to go into my section scar but the surgeon didnʼt think he could see well enough. 2021, Dr Philippa Kaye, Doctors Get Cancer Too, Vie Books, page 143
7. (sciences) A thin slice of material prepared as a specimen for research.
8. (botany) A taxonomic rank below the genus (and subgenus if present), but above the species.
9. (zoology) An informal taxonomic rank below the order ranks and above the family ranks.
10. (military) A group of 10-15 soldiers led by a non-commissioned officer and forming part of a platoon.
11. (category theory) A right inverse.
12. (New Zealand) A piece of residential land; a plot.
13. (US, Canada, law and land surveying) Synonym of square mile, a unit of land area, especially in the contexts of Canadan surveys and American land grants and legal property descriptions.
14. The symbol §, denoting a section of a document.
15. (geology) A sequence of rock layers.
16. (Philippines, education) A class in a school; a group of students in a regularly scheduled meeting with a teacher in a certain school year or semester or school quarter year.

verb

1. To cut, divide or separate into pieces.
2. To reduce to the degree of thinness required for study with the microscope.
3. (UK, Australia, New Zealand) To commit (a person) to a hospital for mental health treatment as an involuntary patient. So called after various sections of legal acts regarding mental health.
   Tribunals were set up as watchdogs in cases of compulsory detention (sectioning). […] Informal patients, however, could be sectioned, and this was often a fear of patients once they were in hospital. 1998, Diana Gittins, Madness in its Place: Narratives of Severalls Hospital, 1913-1997, Routledge, page 45
   The doctor then sectioned her, making her an involuntary patient, and had her moved to a secure ward. a. 2000, Lucy Johnstone, Users and Abusers of Psychiatry: A Critical Look at Psychiatric Practice, Second edition, Routledge, published 2000, page xiv
   After explaining that for 7 years, from ’88 to ’95, I was permanently sectioned under the Mental Health act, robbed of my freedom, my integrity, my rights, I wrote at the time;- […] 2006, Mairi Colme, A Divine Dance of Madness, Chipmunkapublishing, page 5
4. (medicine) To perform a cesarean section on (someone).
   "But if she's gone into active labour she could be bleeding massively and you may have to section her there and then." 2012, Anne Fraser, St. Piran's: Daredevil, Doctor...Dad!, Harlequin, page 16
   You may hear a physician say, "I don't want to section her until the baby declares itself." 2008, Murray et al, Labor and Delivery Nursing: Guide to Evidence-Based Practice, Springer Publishing Company, page 57