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.
&fist; 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 (?), 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.
&fist; 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.
