Sect Meaning
/sɛkt/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounAn offshoot of a larger religion or denomination.
nounA group following a specific ideal or a leader.
Sentence Examples
What is a religious sect?
Mifune's Buddhist "church" will hold a food bazaar. It's of the Jōhō Shinsei sect.
The mutilated bodies of members of the sect were found.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The small religious ____ broke away from the main church due to disagreements.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The religious ____ lived in an isolated community and had little contact with outsiders.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English secte, from Old French secte (“a sect in philosophy or religion”), from Late Latin secta (“a sect in philosophy or religion, a school, party, faction, class, guild, band, particularly a heretical doctrine or sect, etc.”), possibly, from Latin sequi (“to follow”). Alternatively linked to sectus (“cut off, divided”), past participle of secō.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Zen Center welcomes visitors, guests, and prospective students, but it does not engage in systematic institutional or network recruiting of new members, unlike the Christian sect and Erhard Seminars Training."
— 1984, Steven M. Tipton, Getting Saved from the Sixties: Moral Meaning in Conversion and Cultural Change, University of California Press, →ISBN, page 104:
"Every person who is not a fellow member, and every social, religious and political institution that lies outside the sect's domain, is portrayed as a representative of Satan's world. In our research, we found that Moonies and members of many Christian sects with similar religious and political doctrines often focus on such beliefs to the exclusion of all other thought."
— 1995, Flo Conway, Jim Siegelman, Snapping: America's Epidemic of Sudden Personality Change, Stillpoint Press, Inc., →ISBN, page 161:
"Peoples Temple and the Branch Davidians both approximated the 'apocalyptic sect' as an ideal type. In such sects the end of the world is taken as a central tenet."
— 1995, Stuart A. Wright, Armageddon in Waco: Critical Perspectives on the Branch Davidian Conflict, University Of Chicago Press, →ISBN, page 207:
"There are scores of modern religious cults and sects that have been influenced by Hinduism to varying degrees. Werner Erhard, founder of 'Landmark Education's 'The Forum',' and 'est' seminars, which have about 700,000 graduates, was influenced by Hinduism through Swami Muktananda, one of Erhard's principal gurus."
— 1996, John Ankerberg, John Weldon, Encyclopedia of New Age Beliefs, Harvest House Publishers, →ISBN, page 216:
"The Indiana Peoples Temple was essentially a sect, which was joined by new religious movement members in California, which then recruited black church members as it focused its ministry on the residents of urban California."
— 1998, Mary McCormick Maaga, Hearing the Voices of Jonestown, Syracuse University Press, →ISBN, page 75:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The small religious ____ broke away from the main church due to disagreements.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The religious ____ lived in an isolated community and had little contact with outsiders.