Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SECT, n. [Fr. secte; It. setta; L. and Sp. secta; from L. seco, to cut off, to separate.]

1. A body or number of persons united in tenets, chiefly in philosophy or religion, but constituting a distinct party by holding sentiments different from those of other men. Most sects have originated in a particular person, who taught and propagated some peculiar notions in philosophy or religion, and who is considered to have been its founder. Among the Jews, the principal sects were the Pharisees, Sadduccees, and Essenes. In Greece were the Cynic sect, founded by Autisthenes; and the Academic sect, by Plato. The Academic sect gave birth to the Peripatetic, and the Cynic to the Stoic. – Enfield.
2. A cutting or cion. [Not used.] – Shak.