Etymograph

English

section

Section comes from Latin sectiō ‘cutting, cutting off, excision, amputation of…’, from secō ‘to cut’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sek-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sek-1‘to cut’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sekaō1‘to cut’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsecō2as secāre, past participle‘to cut’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsectus2‘cut’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsectiō2‘cutting’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400section2
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500seccioun2
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1959section2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin seco
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English section
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1959, Clacton and Walton Electrification: “Overlap spans and neutral sections have been provided at…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sek-Wiktionary, Latin seco‘to cut’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sekaōWiktionary, Latin seco‘to cut’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsecōWiktionary, English sectionas secāre, past participle‘to cut’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsectusWiktionary, English section‘cut’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsectiōWiktionary, English section‘cutting’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400sectionWiktionary, English section
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500secciounWiktionary, English section
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1959sectionWiktionary, English section. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1959, Clacton and Walton Electrification: “Overlap spans and neutral sections have been provided at…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *sek- ‘to cut’

saw, design, sign, ship, seal, sack, scarlet, sawyer, sax, shingle, scythe, sich, sigil, sedge, sain, desiccant, desiccation, 60 more

through Proto-Italic *sekaō ‘to cut’

sexuality, homosexual, 19 more

through Latin secō ‘to cut’

risk, sex, sexual, segment, sickle, het, insect, dissect, brassica, seg, 21 more

Today it means

noun A cutting; a part cut out from the rest of something.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “section”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin seco. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *sek- / section

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