transect

American  

[tran-sekt] / trænˈsɛkt /

verb (used with object)

1. to cut across; dissect transversely.

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transect British  

verb

1. (tr) to cut or divide crossways

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noun

1. a sample strip of land used to monitor plant distribution, animal populations, etc, within a given area

Other Word Forms

• transection noun

Etymology

Origin of transect

1625–35; tran(s)- + Latin sectus, past participle of secāre to cut, sever ( section )

Explanation

You could say that your favorite hiking trails transect a wooded hillside, since transect means "cut across." Use the verb transect when one thing divides or runs across another. Careful stitches might transect your grandmother's quilt, and a new highway might transect a historic city neighborhood. When you see the Latin prefix trans, you can be sure the word includes some sense of "across." In the case of transect, trans is combined with sect, from the Latin verb secare, "to cut."

Example Sentences

About an hour west of Twin Lake the next day, Gilbert sat with Sam Myers, who runs a fourth-generation wheat farm that the B2H line would transect.

From Salon • Aug. 17, 2025

Microplastics were found in higher abundances nearer land mass at the southern end of the transect and northwards towards the ice edge, recording 0.015 microplastics m-3 during both transect legs.

From Science Daily • Oct. 17, 2023

Several trails, including the ADA-accessible Centennial Fields Park Trail, transect the environment.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 7, 2023

It’s a dangerous journey for a small songbird only weighing about 30 grams, and if a hurricane happens to transect that migration, some of those birds may never make it.

From National Geographic • Jul. 28, 2023

The two birds from 12 miles north of Kalabakan were taken in a net stretched across a surveyor's transect.

From Birds from North Borneo University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History, Volume 17, No. 8, pp. 377-433, October 27, 1966 by Thompson, Max C.

Related Words

• crosscut
• cut across