SECTION (

See also:

• LAT

Lat. sectio, cutting, secare, to cut)  , the act of cutting or a part cut off, thus used of any division of a subject, as the paragraph of a book, article, statute, &c., of a division of land, of a town, &c., or a separate class of a community or race; the term is more particularly applied to a thin slice of any substance prepared for examination by the microscope (see MICROTOMY) or to a diagram of any structure showing the internal plan as if exposed by the cutting off of an external surface; thus, in architecture, a section is a drawing of a building cut in half, so as to show the relative height of the floors, the depth of the foundation and its footings, the framing of the roof, if in timber or iron, or the construction of the vault or dome, if in masonry . The term is also applied to the details of the structure, such as the cornice and the various mouldings showing their profile .