sect

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sect¹

  • /sɛkt/

Rhymes with -ɛkt

Where it comes from

From Middle English secte, from Old French secte (“a sect in philosophy or religion”), from Late Latin secta (“a sect in philosophy or religion, a school, party, faction, class, guild, band, particularly a heretical doctrine or sect, etc.”), possibly, from Latin sequi (“to follow”). Alternatively linked to sectus (“cut off, divided”), past participle of secō.

noun sects

  1. An offshoot of a larger religion or denomination. a religious sect
  2. A group following a specific ideal or a leader. Zen Center welcomes visitors, guests, and prospective students, but it does not engage in systematic institutional or network recruiting of new members, unlike the Christian sect and Erhard Seminars Training.
  3. obsolete A cutting; a scion.

sect²

  • /sɛkt/

Rhymes with -ɛkt

noun

  1. historical, uncountable An ancient astrological concept, a form of polarity by which heavenly bodies were designated as either diurnal or nocturnal.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: religious order, faction, sectarian, cult, doctrine, community, clan, kind, arts, chap, denomination, shinto, dep, subparagraph, sort, part

Translations

Every language

noun religious movement

Españolsecta, culto
한국어종파 jongpa, 분파 bunpa, 섹트 sekteu, 교파 gyopa
日本語宗派 shūha, 教派 kyōha, セクト sekuto, カルト karuto, 分派 bunpa
中文宗派 zōngpài, 教派 jiàopài, 邪教 xiéjiào
हिन्दीपंथ panth, मज़हब mazhab, संप्रदाय sampradāy, निकाय nikāy, फ़िरक़ा firqā, फिरका phirkā
Portuguêsseita
Françaissecte
DeutschSekte
Italianosetta
Ελληνικάαίρεση aíresi, σέκτα sékta
Românăsectă
Русскийсе́кта sékta
Tiếng Việtgiáo phái
العربيةفِرْقَة firqa, مَذْهَب maḏhab, طائِفَة ṭāʔifa, نِحْلَة niḥla
עבריתכַּת kat, כיתה, כִּתָּה kitá

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Cite this
MLA

"sect." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/sect. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

sect. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/sect

Chicago

"sect." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/sect.

BibTeX
@misc{sect_2026,
  title = {sect},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/sect},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}