sectional

[ sek-shuh-nl ]

adjective

1. pertaining or limited to a particular section; local or regional:

   sectional politics.

2. composed of several independent sections:

   a sectional sofa.

3. of or relating to a section:

   a sectional view of the machine.

noun

1. a sofa composed of several independent sections that can be arranged individually or in various combinations.

sectional

/ ˈsɛkʃənəl /

adjective

1. composed of several sections
2. of or relating to a section

Derived Forms

• ˈsectionally, adverb

Other Words From

• section·al·ly adverb
• multi·section·al adjective
• non·section·al adjective
• non·section·al·ly adverb
• un·section·al adjective
• un·section·al·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of sectional¹

An Americanism dating back to 1800–10; section + -al ¹

Example Sentences

To underpin her efforts and support future hair research, Lasisi developed an improved and standardized way of measuring hair curvature and cross-sectional shape.

From Science News

What’s more, inputting the height, density, cross-sectional area and other material properties of the formations into the model predicted the formations’ fundamental frequencies.

From Science News

So when the data collected by the detectors are stitched together by a computer, it can form a cross-sectional view of what’s inside based on where X-rays are absorbed more or less.

From Science News

Racial discrimination was not “a sectional issue,” Kennedy said, but a condition that existed “in every city, every State of the Union.”

From Washington Post

Yet he willingly countenanced the seditious wing of his party throughout the 1850s, worried that standing up to it would exacerbate sectional tensions and stifle his own presidential ambitions.

From Washington Post

What we want most is sectional treatises on single subjects.

From Project Gutenberg

The lines in sectional shading or cross-hatching may be made to denote the material of which the piece is to be composed.

From Project Gutenberg

A sectional edge view is here necessary in order to show the hexagonal form.

From Project Gutenberg

Every care was taken to prevent the movement assuming a sectional as distinct from a national tendency.

From Project Gutenberg

The sectional feeling that brought on that armed contest continues in another direction, and divides the two great parties.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• factional