sect - Definitions from Dictionary.com

10 results for: sect

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

sect

–noun

1.	a body of persons adhering to a particular religious faith; a religious denomination.

2.	a group regarded as heretical or as deviating from a generally accepted religious tradition.

3.	(in the sociology of religion) a Christian denomination characterized by insistence on strict qualifications for membership, as distinguished from the more inclusive groups called churches.

4.	any group, party, or faction united by a specific doctrine or under a doctrinal leader.

[Origin: 1300–50; ME secte < L secta something to follow, pathway, course of conduct, school of thought, prob. n. deriv. of sectārī to pursue, accompany, wait upon, freq. of sequī to follow

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
sect

To learn more about sect visit Britannica.com

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

sect.

section.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

sect Audio Help (sěkt) Pronunciation Key
n.

A group of people forming a distinct unit within a larger group by virtue of certain refinements or distinctions of belief or practice.
A religious body, especially one that has separated from a larger denomination.
A faction united by common interests or beliefs.

[Middle English secte, from Old French, from Latin secta, course, school of thought, from feminine past participle of sequī, to follow; see sek^w-¹ in Indo-European roots.]

(Download Now or Buy the Book)

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
sect

c.1300, "distinctive system of beliefs or observances; party or school within a religion," from O.Fr. secte, from L.L. secta "religious group, sect," from L. secta "manner, mode, following, school of thought," lit. "a way, road," from fem. of sectus, variant pp. of sequi "follow," from PIE *sekw- "to follow" (see sequel). Confused in this sense with L. secta, fem. pp. of secare "to cut" (see section). Meaning "separately organized religious body" is recorded from 1577. Sectarian first recorded 1649, originally applied by Presbyterians to Independents, from M.L. sectarius, from secta.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

sect
noun
1.	a subdivision of a larger religious group
2.	a dissenting clique [syn: faction]

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
sect [sekt] noun

a group of people within a larger, especially religious, group, having views different from those of the rest of the group

Arabic:	طائِفَه، شيعَه
Chinese (Simplified):	教派，流派
Chinese (Traditional):	教派，流派
Czech:	sekta
Danish:	sekt
Dutch:	sekte
Estonian:	usulahk
Finnish:	lahko
French:	secte
German:	die Sekte
Greek:	αίρεση, σέκτα, αποσχισθείσα ομάδα
Hungarian:	szekta
Icelandic:	sértrúarsöfnuður
Indonesian:	sekte
Italian:	setta

Japanese:	分派
Korean:	분파, 교파
Latvian:	sekta
Lithuanian:	sekta
Norwegian:	sekt
Polish:	sekta
Portuguese (Brazil):	seita
Portuguese (Portugal):	seita
Romanian:	sectă
Russian:	секта
Slovak:	sekta
Slovenian:	ločina
Spanish:	secta
Swedish:	sekt
Turkish:	mezhep; hizip

See also: sectarian

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
sect

A religious group, especially one that has separated from a larger group. Sect is often a term of disapproval.

[Chapter:] World Literature, Philosophy, and Religion

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Sect

Sect\, n. [L. secare, sectum, to cut.] A cutting; a scion. [Obs.] --Shak.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Sect

Sect\, n. [F. secte, L. sects, fr. sequi to follew; often confused with L. secare, sectum, to cut. See Sue to follow, and cf. Sept, Suit, n.] Those following a particular leader or authority, or attached to a certain opinion; a company or set having a common belief or allegiance distinct from others; in religion, the believers in a particular creed, or upholders of a particular practice; especially, in modern times, a party dissenting from an established church; a denomination; in philosophy, the disciples of a particular master; a school; in society and the state, an order, rank, class, or party.

He beareth the sign of poverty, And in that sect our Savior saved all mankind. --Piers Plowman.

As of the sect of which that he was born, He kept his lay, to which that he was sworn. --Chaucer.

The cursed sect of that detestable and false prophet Mohammed. --Fabyan.

As concerning this sect [Christians], we know that everywhere it is spoken against. --Acts xxviii. 22.

Acronym Finder - Cite This Source - Share This

SECT

SECT: in Acronym Finder

Browse Nearby Entries: