Meanings
plural sectaries
- A member of a particular sect, school of thought or practice, party, or profession; a sectarian.
Be it as it may: within the Land of Penn / The sectary yielded to the citizen, / And peaceful dwelt the many-creeded men.
1872, John Greenleaf Whittier, “The Pennsylvania Pilgrim”, in The Pennsylvania Pilgrim, and Other Poems, Boston, Mass.: James R. Osgood and Company, late Ticknor & Fields, and Fields, Osgood, & Co., →OCLC, page 441 more example
It is this spirit which inspires sectaries to deprecate the public schools and, if they cannot divert part of the tax support, then to foist upon this free system the shadow of their own beclouded vision.
1953, T.V. Smith, “Democratic Apologetics” in Ethics LXIII, № 2 (January 1953), page 106, left column - ChristianityA Protestant dissenter or nonconformist.
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Medieval Latinsectārius
- Frenchsectaire
- Englishsectary
Either from the French sectaire or directly from its etymon, the Medieval Latin sectārius, from secta (“sect”). Cognates include the Italian settario and the Portuguese and Spanish sectario.
More words from French, Medieval Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Russian секта́нт
- секта́нт (sektánt)member of a particular sect, etc.
Cite this entry
sectary. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sectary
“sectary.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sectary. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sectary,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sectary.
Source: sectary on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.