Chapter 25

As concerning this sect [Christians], we know that everywhere it is spoken against.

Acts xxviii. 22.

Sec"tant (?), n. [L. secare, sectum, to cut.] One of the portions of space bounded by the three coordinate planes. Specif. (Crystallog.), one of the parts of a crystal into which it is divided by the axial planes.

Sec*ta"ri*an (?), a. Pertaining to a sect, or to sects; peculiar to a sect; bigotedly attached to the tenets and interests of a denomination; as, sectarian principles or prejudices.

Sec*ta"ri*an, n. One of a sect; a member or adherent of a special school, denomination, or religious or philosophical party; one of a party in religion which has separated itself from established church, or which holds tenets different from those of the prevailing denomination in a state.

Syn. -- See Heretic.

Sec*ta"ri*an*ism (?), n. The quality or character of a sectarian; devotion to the interests of a party; excess of partisan or denominational zeal; adherence to a separate church organization.

Sec*ta"ri*an*ize (?), v. t. To imbue with sectarian feelings; to subject to the control of a sect.

Sec"ta*rism, n. Sectarianism. [Obs.]

Sec"ta*rist (?), n. A sectary. [R.] T. Warton.

Sec"ta*ry (?), n.;pl. Sectaries (#). [F. sectaire. See Sect.] A sectarian; a member or adherent of a sect; a follower or disciple of some particular teacher in philosophy or religion; one who separates from an established church; a dissenter.

I never knew that time in England when men of truest religion were not counted sectaries.

Milton.

Sec*ta"tor (?), n. [L., fr. sectari, v. intens. fr. sequi to follow. See Sue to follow.] A follower; a disciple; an adherent to a sect. [Obs.] Sir W. Raleigh.

Sec"tile (?), a. [L. sectilis, fr. secare, sectum, to cut: cf. F. sectile. See Section.] Capable of being cut; specifically (Min.), capable of being severed by the knife with a smooth cut; -- said of minerals.

Sec*til"i*ty (?), n. The state or quality of being sectile.

Sec"tion (?), n. [L. sectio, fr. secare, sectum, to cut; akin to E. saw a cutting instrument: cf. F. section. See Saw, and cf. Scion, Dissect, Insect, Secant, Segment.] 1. The act of cutting, or separation by cutting; as, the section of bodies.

2. A part separated from something; a division; a portion; a slice. Specifically: --

(a) A distinct part or portion of a book or writing; a subdivision of a chapter; the division of a law or other writing; a paragraph; an article; hence, the character §, often used to denote such a division.

It is hardly possible to give a distinct view of his several arguments in distinct sections.

Locke.

(b) A distinct part of a country or people, community, class, or the like; a part of a territory separated by geographical lines, or of a people considered as distinct.

The extreme section of one class consists of bigoted dotards, the extreme section of the other consists of shallow and reckless empirics.

Macaulay.

(c) One of the portions, of one square mile each, into which the public lands of the United States are divided; one thirty-sixth part of a township. These sections are subdivided into quarter sections for sale under the homestead and preëmption laws.

3. (Geom.) The figure made up of all the points common to a superficies and a solid which meet, or to two superficies which meet, or to two lines which meet. In the first case the section is a superficies, in the second a line, and in the third a point.

4. (Nat. Hist.) A division of a genus; a group of species separated by some distinction from others of the same genus; -- often indicated by the sign §.

5. (Mus.) A part of a musical period, composed of one or more phrases. See Phrase.

6. The description or representation of anything as it would appear if cut through by any intersecting plane; depiction of what is beyond a plane passing through, or supposed to pass through, an object, as a building, a machine, a succession of strata; profile.

In mechanical drawing, as in these Illustrations of a cannon, a longitudinal section (a) usually represents the object as cut through its center lengthwise and vertically; a cross or transverse section (b), as cut crosswise and vertically; and a horizontal section (c), as cut through its center horizontally. Oblique sections are made at various angles. In architecture, a vertical section is a drawing showing the interior, the thickness of the walls, etc., as if made on a vertical plane passed through a building.

Angular sections (Math.), a branch of analysis which treats of the relations of sines, tangents, etc., of arcs to the sines, tangents, etc., of their multiples or of their parts. [R.] -- Conic sections. (Geom.) See under Conic. -- Section liner (Drawing), an instrument to aid in drawing a series of equidistant parallel lines, -- used in representing sections. -- Thin section, a section or slice, as of mineral, animal, or vegetable substance, thin enough to be transparent, and used for study under the microscope.

Syn. -- Part; portion; division. -- Section, Part. The English more commonly apply the word section to a part or portion of a body of men; as, a section of the clergy, a small section of the Whigs, etc. In the United States this use is less common, but another use, unknown or but little known in England, is very frequent, as in the phrases "the eastern section of our country," etc., the same sense being also given to the adjective sectional; as, sectional feelings, interests, etc.

Sec"tion*al (?), a. 1. Of or pertaining to a section or distinct part of larger body or territory; local.

All sectional interests, or party feelings, it is hoped, will hereafter yield to schemes of ambition.

Story.

2. Consisting of sections, or capable of being divided into sections; as, a sectional steam boiler.

Sec"tion*al*ism (?), n. A disproportionate regard for the interests peculiar to a section of the country; local patriotism, as distinguished from national. [U. S.]

Sec"tion*al"i*ty (?), n. The state or quality of being sectional; sectionalism.

Sec"tion*al*ize (?), v. t. To divide according to geographical sections or local interests. [U. S.]

The principal results of the struggle were to sectionalize parties.

Nicolay & Hay (Life of Lincoln).

Sec"tion*al*ly, adv. In a sectional manner.

Sec"tion*ize (?), v. t. To form into sections. [R.]

Sect"ism (?), n. Devotion to a sect. [R.]

Sect"ist, n. One devoted to a sect; a sectary. [R.]

Sect"i*un`cle (?), n. A little or petty sect. [R.] "Some new sect or sectiuncle." J. Martineau.

Sec"tor (?), n. [L., properly, a cutter, fr. secare, sectum, to cut: cf. F. secteur. See Section.] 1. (Geom.) A part of a circle comprehended between two radii and the included arc.

2. A mathematical instrument, consisting of two rulers connected at one end by a joint, each arm marked with several scales, as of equal parts, chords, sines, tangents, etc., one scale of each kind on each arm, and all on lines radiating from the common center of motion. The sector is used for plotting, etc., to any scale.

3. An astronomical instrument, the limb of which embraces a small portion only of a circle, used for measuring differences of declination too great for the compass of a micrometer. When it is used for measuring zenith distances of stars, it is called a zenith sector.

Dip sector, an instrument used for measuring the dip of the horizon. -- Sector of a sphere, or Spherical sector, the solid generated by the revolution of the sector of a circle about one of its radii, or, more rarely, about any straight line drawn in the plane of the sector through its vertex.

Sec"tor*al (?), a. Of or pertaining to a sector; as, a sectoral circle.

Sec*to"ri*al (?), a. (Anat.) Adapted for cutting. -- n. A sectorial, or carnassial, tooth.

Sec"u*lar (?), a. [OE. secular, seculer. L. saecularis, fr. saeculum a race, generation, age, the times, the world; perhaps akin to E. soul: cf. F. séculier.] 1. Coming or observed once in an age or a century.

The secular year was kept but once a century.

Addison.

2. Pertaining to an age, or the progress of ages, or to a long period of time; accomplished in a long progress of time; as, secular inequality; the secular refrigeration of the globe.

3. Of or pertaining to this present world, or to things not spiritual or holy; relating to temporal as distinguished from eternal interests; not immediately or primarily respecting the soul, but the body; worldly.

New foes arise, Threatening to bind our souls with secular chains.

Milton.

4. (Eccl.) Not regular; not bound by monastic vows or rules; not confined to a monastery, or subject to the rules of a religious community; as, a secular priest.

He tried to enforce a stricter discipline and greater regard for morals, both in the religious orders and the secular clergy.

Prescott.

5. Belonging to the laity; lay; not clerical.

I speak of folk in secular estate.

Chaucer.

Secular equation (Astron.), the algebraic or numerical expression of the magnitude of the inequalities in a planet's motion that remain after the inequalities of a short period have been allowed for. -- Secular games (Rom. Antiq.), games celebrated, at long but irregular intervals, for three days and nights, with sacrifices, theatrical shows, combats, sports, and the like. -- Secular music, any music or songs not adapted to sacred uses. -- Secular hymn or poem, a hymn or poem composed for the secular games, or sung or rehearsed at those games.

Sec"u*lar, n. 1. (Eccl.) A secular ecclesiastic, or one not bound by monastic rules. Burke.

2. (Eccl.) A church official whose functions are confined to the vocal department of the choir. Busby.

3. A layman, as distinguished from a clergyman.

Sec"u*lar*ism (?), n. 1. The state or quality of being secular; a secular spirit; secularity.

2. The tenets or principles of the secularists.

Sec"u*lar*ist, n. One who theoretically rejects every form of religious faith, and every kind of religious worship, and accepts only the facts and influences which are derived from the present life; also, one who believes that education and other matters of civil policy should be managed without the introduction of a religious element.

Sec`u*lar"i*ty (?), n. [Cf.F. sécularité, LL. saecularitas.] Supreme attention to the things of the present life; worldliness.

A secularity of character which makes Christianity and its principal doctrines distasteful or unintelligible.

I. Taylor.

Sec`u*lar*i*za"tion (?), n. [Cf. F. sécularisation.] The act of rendering secular, or the state of being rendered secular; conversion from regular or monastic to secular; conversion from religious to lay or secular possession and uses; as, the secularization of church property.

Sec"u*lar*ize (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Secularized (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Secularizing (?).] [Cf. F. séculariser.] 1. To convert from regular or monastic into secular; as, to secularize a priest or a monk.

2. To convert from spiritual to secular or common use; as, to secularize a church, or church property.

At the Reformation the abbey was secularized.

W. Coxe.

3. To make worldly or unspiritual. Bp. Horsley.

Sec"u*lar*ly, adv. In a secular or worldly manner.

Sec"u*lar*ness, n. The quality or state of being secular; worldliness; worldly-mindedness.

Se"cund (?), a. [L. secundus following the course or current of wind or water. See Second, a.] (Bot.) Arranged on one side only, as flowers or leaves on a stalk. Gray.

Se*cun"date (?), v. t. [L. secundatus, p. p. of secundare to direct favorably.] To make prosperous. [R.]

Sec`un*da"tion (?), n. Prosperity. [R.]

Sec"un*dine (?), n. [Cf. F. secondine.] 1. (Bot.) The second coat, or integument, of an ovule, lying within the primine.

In the ripened seed the primine and secundine are usually united to form the testa, or outer seed coat. When they remain distinct the secundine becomes the mesosperm, as in the castor bean.

2. [Cf. F. secondines.] The afterbirth, or placenta and membranes; -- generally used in the plural.

Se*cun`do-gen"i*ture (?), n. [L. secundus second + genitura a begetting, generation.] A right of inheritance belonging to a second son; a property or possession so inherited.

The kingdom of Naples . . . was constituted a secundo-geniture of Spain.

Bancroft.

Se*cur"a*ble (?), a. That may be secured.

Se*cure" (?), a. [L. securus; pref. se- without + cura care. See Cure care, and cf. Sure, a.] 1. Free from fear, care, or anxiety; easy in mind; not feeling suspicion or distrust; confident.

But thou, secure of soul, unbent with woes.

Dryden.

2. Overconfident; incautious; careless; -- in a bad sense. Macaulay.

3. Confident in opinion; not entertaining, or not having reason to entertain, doubt; certain; sure; -- commonly with of; as, secure of a welcome.

Confidence then bore thee on, secure Either to meet no danger, or to find Matter of glorious trial.

Milton.

4. Not exposed to danger; safe; -- applied to persons and things, and followed by against or from. "Secure from fortune's blows." Dryden.

Syn. -- Safe; undisturbed; easy; sure; certain; assured; confident; careless; heedless; inattentive.

Se*cure", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Secured (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Securing.] 1. To make safe; to relieve from apprehensions of, or exposure to, danger; to guard; to protect.

I spread a cloud before the victor's sight, Sustained the vanquished, and secured his flight.

Dryden.

2. To put beyond hazard of losing or of not receiving; to make certain; to assure; to insure; -- frequently with against or from, rarely with of; as, to secure a creditor against loss; to secure a debt by a mortgage.

It secures its possessor of eternal happiness.

T. Dick.

3. To make fast; to close or confine effectually; to render incapable of getting loose or escaping; as, to secure a prisoner; to secure a door, or the hatches of a ship.

4. To get possession of; to make one's self secure of; to acquire certainly; as, to secure an estate.

Secure arms (Mil.), a command and a position in the manual of arms, used in wet weather, the object being to guard the firearm from becoming wet. The piece is turned with the barrel to the front and grasped by the right hand at the lower band, the muzzle is dropped to the front, and the piece held with the guard under the right arm, the hand supported against the hip, and the thumb on the rammer.

Se*cure"ly, adv. In a secure manner; without fear or apprehension; without danger; safely.

His daring foe . . . securely him defied.

Milton.

Se*cure"ment (?), n. The act of securing; protection. [R.]

Society condemns the securement in all cases of perpetual protection by means of perpetual imprisonment.

C. A. Ives.

Se*cure"ness, n. The condition or quality of being secure; exemption from fear; want of vigilance; security.

Se*cur"er (?), n. One who, or that which, secures.

||Sec`u*rif"e*ra (?), n. pl. [NL., from L. securis an ax + ferre to ||bear.] (Zoöl.) The Serrifera.

Se*cu"ri*form (?), a. [L. securis an ax or hatchet + -form: cf. F. sécuriforme.] (Nat. Hist.) Having the form of an ax or hatchet.

Se*cu"ri*palp (?), n. [L. securis ax, hatchet + E. palp.] (Zoöl.) One of a family of beetles having the maxillary palpi terminating in a hatchet- shaped joint.

Se*cu"ri*ty (?), n.; pl. Securities (#). [L. securitas: cf. F. sécurité. See Secure, and cf. Surety.] 1. The condition or quality of being secure; secureness. Specifically: (a) Freedom from apprehension, anxiety, or care; confidence of power or safety; hence, assurance; certainty.

His trembling hand had lost the ease, Which marks security to please.

Sir W. Scott.

(b) Hence, carelessness; negligence; heedlessness.

He means, my lord, that we are too remiss, Whilst Bolingbroke, through our security, Grows strong and great in substance and in power.

Shak.

(c) Freedom from risk; safety.

Give up yourself merely to chance and hazard, From firm security.

Shak.

Some . . . alleged that we should have no security for our trade.

Swift.

2. That which secures or makes safe; protection; guard; defense. Specifically: (a) Something given, deposited, or pledged, to make certain the fulfillment of an obligation, the performance of a contract, the payment of a debt, or the like; surety; pledge.

Those who lent him money lent it on no security but his bare word.

Macaulay.

(b) One who becomes surety for another, or engages himself for the performance of another's obligation.

3. An evidence of debt or of property, as a bond, a certificate of stock, etc.; as, government securities.

Syn. -- Protection; defense; guard; shelter; safety; certainty; ease; assurance; carelessness; confidence; surety; pledge; bail.

Se*dan" (?), n. [Said to be named from Sedan, in France, where it was first made, and whence it was introduced into England in the time of King Charles I.] A portable chair or covered vehicle for carrying a single person, -- usually borne on poles by two men. Called also sedan chair.

Se*date" (?), a. [L. sedatus, p. p. of sedare, sedatum, to allay, calm, causative of sedere to sit. See Sit.] Undisturbed by passion or caprice; calm; tranquil; serene; not passionate or giddy; composed; staid; as, a sedate soul, mind, or temper.

Disputation carries away the mind from that calm and sedate temper which is so necessary to contemplate truth.

I. Watts.

Whatsoever we feel and know Too sedate for outward show.

Wordsworth.

Syn. -- Settled; composed; calm; quiet; tranquil; still; serene; unruffled; undisturbed; contemplative; sober; serious.

-- Se*date"ly, adv. -- Se*date"ness, n.

Se*da"tion (?), n. [L. sedatio.] The act of calming, or the state of being calm. [R.] Coles.

Sed"a*tive (?), a. [Cf. F. sédatif.] Tending to calm, moderate, or tranquilize; specifically (Med.), allaying irritability and irritation; assuaging pain.

Sed"a*tive, n. (Med.) A remedy which allays irritability and irritation, and irritative activity or pain.

Se"dent (?), a. [L. sedens, - entis, p. pr. of sedere to sit. See Sit.] Sitting; inactive; quiet. [R.]

Sed"en*ta*ri*ly (?), adv. In a sedentary manner.

Sed"en*ta*ri*ness, n. Quality of being sedentary.

Sed"en*ta*ry (?), a. [L. sedentarius, fr. sedere to sit: cf. F. seédentaire. See Sedent.] 1. Accustomed to sit much or long; as, a sedentary man. "Sedentary, scholastic sophists." Bp. Warburton.

2. Characterized by, or requiring, much sitting; as, a sedentary employment; a sedentary life.

Any education that confined itself to sedentary pursuits was essentially imperfect.

Beaconsfield.

3. Inactive; motionless; sluggish; hence, calm; tranquil. [R.] "The sedentary earth." Milton.

The soul, considered abstractly from its passions, is of a remiss, sedentary nature.

Spectator.

4. Caused by long sitting. [Obs.] "Sedentary numbness." Milton.

5. (Zoöl.) Remaining in one place, especially when firmly attached to some object; as, the oyster is a sedentary mollusk; the barnacles are sedentary crustaceans.

Sedentary spider (Zoöl.), one of a tribe of spiders which rest motionless until their prey is caught in their web.

||Se*de"runt (?), n. [L., they sat, fr. sedere to sit.] A sitting, as ||of a court or other body.

'T is pity we have not Burns's own account of that long sederunt.

Prof. Wilson.

Acts of sederunt (Scots Law), ordinances of the Court of Session for the ordering of processes and expediting of justice. Bell.

Sedge (?), n. [OE. segge, AS. secg; akin to LG. segge; -- probably named from its bladelike appearance, and akin to L. secare to cut, E. saw a cutting instrument; cf. Ir. seisg, W. hesg. Cf. Hassock, Saw the instrument.] 1. (Bot.) Any plant of the genus Carex, perennial, endogenous, innutritious herbs, often growing in dense tufts in marshy places. They have triangular jointless stems, a spiked inflorescence, and long grasslike leaves which are usually rough on the margins and midrib. There are several hundred species.

The name is sometimes given to any other plant of the order Cyperaceæ, which includes Carex, Cyperus, Scirpus, and many other genera of rushlike plants.

2. (Zoöl.) A flock of herons.

Sedge hen (Zoöl.), the clapper rail. See under 5th Rail. -- Sedge warbler (Zoöl.), a small European singing bird (Acrocephalus phragmitis). It often builds its nest among reeds; -- called also sedge bird, sedge wren, night warbler, and Scotch nightingale.

Sedged (?), a. Made or composed of sedge.

With your sedged crowns and ever-harmless looks.

Shak.

Sedg"y (?), a. Overgrown with sedge.

On the gentle Severn\'b6s sedgy bank.

Shak.

||Se*dil"i*a (?), n. pl.; sing. Sedile (&?;). [L. sedile a seat.] ||(Arch.) Seats in the chancel of a church near the altar for the ||officiating clergy during intervals of service. Hook.

Sed"i*ment (?), n. [F. sédiment, L. sedimentum a settling, fr. sedere to sit, to settle. See Sit.] 1. The matter which subsides to the bottom, from water or any other liquid; settlings; lees; dregs.

2. (Geol.) The material of which sedimentary rocks are formed.

Sed`i*men"tal (?), a. Sedimentary.

Sed`i*men"ta*ry (?), a. [Cf. F. sédimentaire.] Of or pertaining to sediment; formed by sediment; containing matter that has subsided.

Sedimentary rocks. (Geol.) See Aqueous rocks, under Aqueous.

Sed`i*men*ta"tion (?), n. The act of depositing a sediment; specifically (Geol.), the deposition of the material of which sedimentary rocks are formed.

Se*di"tion (?), n. [OE. sedicioun, OF. sedition, F. sédition, fr. L. seditio, originally, a going aside; hence, an insurrectionary separation; pref. se-, sed-, aside + itio a going, fr. ire, itum, to go. Cf. Issue.] 1. The raising of commotion in a state, not amounting to insurrection; conduct tending to treason, but without an overt act; excitement of discontent against the government, or of resistance to lawful authority.

In soothing them, we nourish 'gainst our senate The cockle of rebellion, insolence, sedition.

Shak.

Noisy demagogues who had been accused of sedition.

Macaulay.

2. Dissension; division; schism. [Obs.]

Now the works of the flesh are manifest, . . . emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies.

Gal. v. 19, 20.

Syn. -- Insurrection; tumult; uproar; riot; rebellion; revolt. See Insurrection.

Se*di"tion*a*ry (?), n. An inciter or promoter of sedition. Bp. Hall.

Se*di"tious (?), a.[L. seditiosus: cf. F. séditieux.] 1. Of or pertaining to sedition; partaking of the nature of, or tending to excite, sedition; as, seditious behavior; seditious strife; seditious words.

2. Disposed to arouse, or take part in, violent opposition to lawful authority; turbulent; factious; guilty of sedition; as, seditious citizens.

-- Se*di"tious*ly, adv. -- Se*di"tious*ness, n.

Sed"litz (?), a. Same as Seidlitz.

Se*duce" (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Seduced (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Seducing (?).] [L. seducere, seductum; pref. se- aside + ducere to lead. See Duke.] 1. To draw aside from the path of rectitude and duty in any manner; to entice to evil; to lead astray; to tempt and lead to iniquity; to corrupt.

For me, the gold of France did not seduce.

Shak.

2. Specifically, to induce to surrender chastity; to debauch by means of solicitation.

Syn. -- To allure; entice; tempt; attract; mislead; decoy; inveigle. See Allure.

Se*duce"ment (?), n. 1. The act of seducing.

2. The means employed to seduce, as flattery, promises, deception, etc.; arts of enticing or corrupting. Pope.

Se*du"cer (?), n. One who, or that which, seduces; specifically, one who prevails over the chastity of a woman by enticements and persuasions.

He whose firm faith no reason could remove, Will melt before that soft seducer, love.

Dryden.

Se*du"ci*ble (?), a. Capable of being seduced; corruptible.

Se*du"cing (?), a. Seductive. "Thy sweet seducing charms." Cowper. -- Se*du"cing*ly, adv.