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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  

/ 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 ² British  

combining form

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

   trisect

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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

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”

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

He is notorious for his threats against a Bollywood actor who shot two blackbucks, a type of antelope that the Bishnoi sect worships.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026

Wednesday's decision means liquidation proceedings will begin and the sect will no longer benefit from tax exemption, although the group can still appeal to the top court.

From Barron's ● Mar. 4, 2026

Tehran has provided weapons, training and other aid to the Houthis, according to Washington, though the Houthis belong to a separate branch of Shiite Islam than the “Twelver” sect prevalent in Iran.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 1, 2026

The second of eight children in a religious family, his father was a mid-ranking cleric from the Shia branch of Islam, the dominant sect in Iran.

From BBC ● Feb. 28, 2026

He was cared for by a group of Jansenists, Catholics who belonged to a sect based largely on a hatred of the Jesuit order.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife

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

Rev. Charles Forster's Historical Geography of Arabia, part i. sect. vi., in which he discusses "the vestiges of Arab colonies, and maintains the Arabo-Abrahamic origin of the Greeks."

From Notes and Queries, Number 70, March 1, 1851 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc. by George Bell

See Period I. sect. ii. chap. iii. p.

From The Ancient Church Its History, Doctrine, Worship, and Constitution by W. D. (William Dool) Killen

See his Travels in Greece, Egypt, and the Holy Land, part ii. sect. i. 8vo. ed. vol. iv. p. 288.—Ed.

From Dr. Johnson's Works: Life, Poems, and Tales, Volume 1 The Works of Samuel Johnson, Ll.D., in Nine Volumes by Samuel Johnson

VI. sect. iv., also in a brief and simple way in "Botany for Young People, How Plants Behave."

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

“Why, among all those competing Jewish sects in the first century,” Mr. Diamond asks, “were Christians the ones to found a world religion?”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 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

Sunni Muslims constitute 74%, other Muslim sects 13%, and Druze 3%.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 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

It took a smart man to know where the difference lay between the sects, but anyone could see what they had in common.

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

Related Words

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