chapter

Word family

• chap
  nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

These words all refer to pieces of a larger whole, but they are not interchangeable with 'chapter'. A chapter is specifically a numbered or titled division within a book, and it implies that the work is organized in a deliberate, sequential way. A section is more general — it can be a part of a book, a document, a building, or even a law, and it does not need a number or title. A part is even broader and often groups multiple chapters together (e.g. 'Part One contains chapters one through five'). A segment is the most general of the three and is often used for non-book contexts, such as a segment of a TV show or a market segment. In everyday conversation, use 'chapter' when talking about books and 'section' for shorter divisions within a document or article. For example: 'Read chapter three for homework' (correct for a book) vs. 'Read section three of the report' (correct for a document).

Common collocations

Etymology

The word 'chapter' comes from the Latin 'capitulum', meaning 'little head'. In ancient Rome, a 'capitulum' was used to refer to the heading or title of a section in a text. The word traveled into Old French as 'chapitre', and then into Middle English around the 13th century. By the 1500s, the sense expanded from the section of a book to the group of clergy who met under a chapter heading (since they read a 'chapter' of their rule during meetings). The modern metaphorical use — a 'chapter of one's life' — appeared in the 1700s, drawing on the idea of life as a book made up of distinct sections.