Sect

A sect, in the primary sense of the word, is a religious group which forms a distinct sub-group, ‘party’ or ‘wing’ within a larger religious group, or has broken away from the larger group to form another denomination. What is distinctive of a particular sect may be its beliefs or practices or its loyalty to an (often charismatic) individual, a ‘prophet’, or other religious figure, who may have been its founder. Sects are sometimes characterised by a high degree of fervour among their members, who may have a rather exclusive attitude to membership of the sect and a tendency to emphasise their differences from other, more ‘mainstream’ denominations; and for this and no doubt other reasons – e.g. some sects may be regarded by ‘mainstream’ ‘outsiders’ as heretical - the word ‘sect’ tends to have a rather pejorative sense.

The word ‘sect’ may also be used by analogy of a group within a political party or movement if the group is distinguished from the party or movement of which it is a part by the distinctive political beliefs of its members, their fervour, and /or their loyalty to a particular political figure.

The related adjective is sectarian, meaning ‘of, relating to, or characteristic of a sect or sects’. The word is often used pejoratively to mean ‘narrow-minded or bigoted’, especially when this attitude results from rigid adherence to a particular sect or doctrine.

Sectarian may also be used as a noun to refer to the member of a sect or faction, especially one who is narrow-minded or bigoted in their adherence to its doctrines or in their intolerance of other sects. An alternative noun is sectary, which is used especially of a member of a religious sect that is considered to be schismatic or heretical, or of a person who is excessively devoted to a particular sect.

Etymological note: The word ‘sect’ comes from the Latin secta, a noun formed from the stem (sec-) of the verb sequi, ‘to follow’. Secta meant ‘path’,’ method’, ‘way of life’, but was also used, in the context of politics, to mean ‘party’ or ‘faction’, and, in the context of philosophy, to mean ‘school’ (i.e., the followers of a particular philosopher).

See also faction.