sect

Everyday

A small group of people who share strong beliefs, often one that has split away from a larger religion. tree →

In the lessons

a small group with its own beliefs and rules, set apart from others

Examples

• The sect met in a small hall to pray. tree →
• Members of the sect wore plain grey clothes. tree →
• The sect kept to itself and did not join the town's feasts. tree →

Note

nothing for maths

In Jewish tradition

In Sefer Yetzirah it means a school of ancient belief that the writer describes.

Interpretation. The commentator Westcott lists sects that believed in one, two or three great powers, or in the Sun alone. This is set against the Jewish belief in one God.

Examples

• The Third sect recognised no god beside the Sun, in which it recognised the sole principle of existence." (Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1893) tree →
• The Second sect admitted Three great Powers ; two of them as in the first case, and a third Power whose function was to decide between (Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1893) tree →
• The Second sect admitted Three great Powers; two of them as in the first case, and a third Power whose function was to decide between [p. 7] the two others, a supreme arbitrator. (Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1893) tree →

Note

nothing for maths