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• sect
  sect

  noun

  a body of persons adhering to a particular religious faith; a religious denomination.
• -sect
  -sect

  a combining form with the meaning “cut,” used in the formation of compound words bisect, dissect, exsect .
• sect.
  sect.

  abbreviation

  section.

sect

¹ American  

[sekt] / sɛkt /

noun

• sects
  plural

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.

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-sect ² American  

1. a combining form with the meaning “cut,” used in the formation of compound words bisect, dissect, exsect .

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sect. ³ American  

abbreviation

1. section.

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-sect ¹ British  

combining form

1. to cut or divide, esp into a specified number of parts

   trisect

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sect ² British  

/ sɛkt /

noun

1. a subdivision of a larger religious group (esp the Christian Church as a whole) the members of which have to some extent diverged from the rest by developing deviating beliefs, practices, etc

2. derogatory

   1. a schismatic religious body characterized by an attitude of exclusivity in contrast to the more inclusive religious groups called denominations or Churches

   2. a religious group regarded as extreme or heretical

3. a group of people with a common interest, doctrine, etc; faction

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sect Cultural  

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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• subsect
  noun
• undersect
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• sects
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of sect¹

1300–50; Middle English secte < Latin secta something to follow, pathway, course of conduct, school of thought, probably noun derivative of sectārī to pursue, accompany, wait upon, frequentative of sequī to follow

Origin of -sect²

From Latin sectus, past participle of secāre “to cut”

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Explanation

A sect is a religious group that exists inside of a larger religion. Think of it as a section of a particular religion. Although objectively speaking a sect is merely a subdivision of a larger religious group, the word often carries with it the feeling of a part of a religion that has broken away. It often has a negative connotation in English because it implies that the group departed from what was standard to believe something different or odd. If you are comparing two sects you might talk about their sectarian differences.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sect -sect sect. sects

According to the proposed reconstruction, the sect likely used the calendar during its early history, when disagreements over religious dates contributed to its separation from the Jerusalem establishment.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026

Authorities at the Temple in Jerusalem determined important dates using the prevailing calendar, but the Qumran sect rejected the idea that human leaders should have that power.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026

A New Zealand court has jailed a religious sect leader over the death of an elderly follower who had travelled from China to live with his family.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

Thousands of members of a powerful Philippine religious sect rallied in Manila on Tuesday, snarling traffic as they protested the expected arrest of a senator and church member.

From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026

A block away lived another Hasidic sect, Jews from southern Poland, who walked the Brooklyn streets like specters, with their black hats, long black coats, black beards, and earlocks.

From "The Chosen" by Chaim Potok

Palmatifid, -lobed, -sect, palmately cleft, or lobed, or divided.

From The Elements of Botany For Beginners and For Schools by Asa Gray

“His followers go along with what he says as if they were members of a sect. If he says it’s no problem to go out, people believe him,” Marino said.

From The Guardian ● May 8, 2020

Fuller, in his Church Hist., book III. cent. xiii. sect. 8., has given the origin of postmasters.

From Notes and Queries, Number 231, April 1, 1854 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc. by George Bell

And errors of this sort are common to all things that have sense.”—Computation or Logic, ch. v., sect. 1.19.Ch. iii. sect.

From A System Of Logic, Ratiocinative And Inductive (Vol. 1 of 2) by John Stuart Mill

See also Bishop Butler, Analogy, part I. chap. v. sect. iii.

From Ethics by Aristotle

Also Stewart's Philosophy of the Mind, part i, chapt. iv. sect. iii. p.

From A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge by George Berkeley

Dulles came to believe that religion, specifically an ecumenical Protestantism aiming to promote cooperation among different sects, was the missing link that could provide a moral architecture for the global system.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 15, 2026

"All sects used to celebrate with us, and we hope to see this in the coming years, in order to rebuild Syria," she added.

From Barron's ● Dec. 24, 2025

Large sects of these people exist in the US, and similarly have been documented in Australia since the 70s.

From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2025

In the end, wrote Burger, the track record of the Amish in maintaining alternative modes of informal vocational education was a showing “that probably few other religious groups or sects could make.”

From Slate ● Jul. 1, 2025

He was painfully aware that he lacked the ecclesiastical aplomb and savoir-faire that enabled so many of his colleagues in other faiths and sects to get ahead.

From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller

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Related Words

• church
• creed
• cult
• denomination
• faction
• faith
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