Chapter vs. Section — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman — Updated on October 25, 2023
A "chapter" is a main division in a book, often denoting a particular topic, while a "section" refers to any distinct subdivision within a larger body of work or space, not limited to books.
Difference Between Chapter and Section
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
A chapter is typically recognized as one of the main divisions of a book, often named or numbered, setting it apart from other segments. Conversely, a section is a broader term that denotes any distinct subdivision of content or space, be it in literature, music, or even physical spaces.
When reading a novel, readers might notice that stories are divided into chapters, which help in transitioning from one scene or event to another. In contrast, a section might be a part of a chapter, an article, a piece of music, or even a part of a theater or auditorium.
For academic or non-fiction books, a chapter can be a deep dive into a specific topic, allowing readers to understand it comprehensively. Whereas, a section could be any partition, like the introduction, bibliography, or even an annex in the same book.
Many religious texts, like the Bible, are divided into chapters to denote different events or teachings. However, within a section of a newspaper, one might find various articles on similar subjects, like sports or entertainment.
In organizational settings, a chapter can refer to local branches or units of a larger organization. However, a section could denote different departments or teams within the same organization.
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Comparison Chart
Part of Speech
Noun
Noun
Usage in Literature
Main division in books
Subdivision in books, articles, or any body of work
Size
Generally longer than sections
Can be short or long, but typically shorter than chapters
Scope
Limited to books or organizational units
Broad, can refer to divisions in literature, music, space, or entities
Flexibility
Specific to content progression and structure
More flexible, can refer to any distinct subdivision
Compare with Definitions
Chapter
A main division of content in a book.
Each chapter of the novel introduced a new character.
Section
A distinct subdivision of a larger body of work or space.
The section on aquatic animals was her favorite part of the museum.
Chapter
A period or episode in a person's life or in history.
That trip was an exciting chapter in our lives.
Section
A plot of land.
They bought a section of land to start their farm.
Chapter
The governing body of a religious community, especially in cathedrals or other large churches.
The chapter met to discuss the upcoming events.
Section
A distinct segment of a musical composition.
The brass section played a powerful melody.
Chapter
A local branch of a society or organization.
She joined the local chapter of the wildlife society.
Section
One of several components; a piece.
Chapter
One of the main divisions of a relatively lengthy piece of writing, such as a book, that is usually numbered or titled.
Section
A subdivision of a written work.
Chapter
One of the main divisions of a video recording, usually accessible through an onscreen menu.
Section
(Law) A distinct portion or provision of a legal code or set of laws, often establishing a particular legal requirement
Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.
Chapter
A distinct period or sequence of events, as in history or a person's life
Steamboat travel opened a new chapter in America's exploration of the West.
Section
A distinct portion of a newspaper
The sports section.
Chapter
A local branch of an organization, such as a club or fraternity
The Chicago chapter is admitting new members this year.
Section
A distinct area of a town, county, or country
A residential section.
Chapter
An assembly of the canons of a church or of the members of a religious residence.
Section
A land unit equal to one square mile (2.59 square kilometers), 640 acres, or 1/36 of a township.
Chapter
The canons of a church or the members of a religious residence considered as a group.
Section
The act or process of separating or cutting, especially the surgical cutting or dividing of tissue.
Chapter
A short scriptural passage read after the psalms in certain church services.
Section
A thin slice, as of tissue, suitable for microscopic examination.
Chapter
(authorship) One of the main sections into which the text of a book is divided.
Detective novel writers try to keep up the suspense until the last chapter.
Section
A segment of a fruit, especially a citrus fruit.
Chapter
A section of a work, a collection of works, or fragments of works, often manuscripts or transcriptions, created by scholars or advocates, not the original authors, to aid in finding portions of the texts.
Section
Representation of a solid object as it would appear if cut by an intersecting plane, so that the internal structure is displayed.
Chapter
Certain ecclesiastical bodies (under canon law)
Section
(Music) A group of instruments or voices in the same class considered as a division of a band, orchestra, or choir
The rhythm section.
The woodwind section.
Chapter
An assembly of monks, prebendaries and/or other clergymen connected with a cathedral, conventual or collegiate church, or of a diocese, usually presided over by the dean.
Section
A class or discussion group of students taking the same course
She taught three sections of English composition.
Chapter
A community of canons or canonesses.
Section
A portion of railroad track maintained by a single crew.
Chapter
A bishop's council.
Section
An area in a train's sleeping car containing an upper and lower berth.
Chapter
A section of a social body.
Section
An army tactical unit smaller than a platoon and larger than a squad.
Chapter
An administrative division of an organization, usually local to a specific area.
Section
A unit of vessels or aircraft within a division of armed forces.
Chapter
An organized branch of some society or fraternity, such as the Freemasons.
Section
One of two or more vehicles, such as a bus or train, given the same route and schedule, often used to carry extra passengers.
Chapter
A meeting of certain organized societies or orders.
Section
The character (§) used in printing to mark the beginning of a section.
Chapter
A chapter house
Section
This character used as the fourth in a series of reference marks for footnotes.
Chapter
A sequence (of events), especially when presumed related and likely to continue.
Section
(Informal) A cesarean section.
Chapter
(obsolete) A location or compartment.
Section
To separate or divide into parts.
Chapter
To divide into chapters.
Section
To cut or divide (tissue) surgically.
Chapter
To put into a chapter.
Section
To shade or crosshatch (part of a drawing) to indicate sections.
Chapter
To use administrative procedure to remove someone.
Section
(Informal) To perform a cesarean section on.
Chapter
(transitive) To take to task.
Section
A cutting; a part cut out from the rest of something.
Chapter
A division of a book or treatise; as, Genesis has fifty chapters.
Section
A part, piece, subdivision of anything.
Chapter
An assembly of monks, or of the prebends and other clergymen connected with a cathedral, conventual, or collegiate church, or of a diocese, usually presided over by the dean.
Section
(music) A group of instruments in an orchestra.
The horn section is the group of symphonic musicians who play the French horn.
Chapter
An organized branch of some society or fraternity as of the Freemasons.
Section
A part of a document.
Chapter
A meeting of certain organized societies or orders.
Section
An act or instance of cutting.
Chapter
A chapter house.
Section
A cross-section (image that shows an object as if cut along a plane).
Chapter
A decretal epistle.
Section
(aviation) A cross-section perpendicular the longitudinal axis of an aircraft in flight.
Chapter
A location or compartment.
In his bosom! In what chapter of his bosom?
Section
(surgery) An incision or the act of making an incision.
Chapter
To divide into chapters, as a book.
Section
(sciences) A thin slice of material prepared as a specimen for research.
Chapter
To correct; to bring to book, i. e., to demand chapter and verse.
Section
(botany) A taxonomic rank below the genus (and subgenus if present), but above the species.
Chapter
A subdivision of a written work; usually numbered and titled;
He read a chapter every night before falling asleep
Section
(zoology) An informal taxonomic rank below the order ranks and above the family ranks.
Chapter
Any distinct period in history or in a person's life;
The industrial revolution opened a new chapter in British history
The divorce was an ugly chapter in their relationship
Section
(military) A group of 10-15 soldiers led by a non-commissioned officer and forming part of a platoon.
Chapter
A local branch of some fraternity or association;
He joined the Atlanta chapter
Section
(category theory) A right inverse.
Chapter
An ecclesiastical assembly of the monks in a monastery or even of the canons of a church
Section
(NZ) A piece of residential land; a plot.
Chapter
A series of related events forming an episode;
A chapter of disasters
Section
(Canadian) A one-mile square area of land, defined by a government survey.
Chapter
An assembly of monks or canons.
The chapter gathered for evening prayers.
Section
Any of the squares, each containing 640 acres, into which the public lands of the United States were divided.
Section
The symbol §, denoting a section of a document.
Section
(geology) A sequence of rock layers.
Section
A class in a school; a group of students in a regularly scheduled meeting with a teacher in a certain school year or semester or school quarter year.
Section
To cut, divide or separate into pieces.
Section
To reduce to the degree of thinness required for study with the microscope.
Section
(UK) To commit (a person, to a hospital, with or without their consent), as for mental health reasons. So called after various sections of legal acts regarding mental health.
Section
To perform a cesarean section on (someone).
Section
The act of cutting, or separation by cutting; as, the section of bodies.
Section
A part separated from something; a division; a portion; a slice.
Section
A distinct part or portion of a book or writing; a subdivision of a chapter; the division of a law or other writing; a paragraph; an article; hence, the character often used to denote such a division.
It is hardly possible to give a distinct view of his several arguments in distinct sections.
Section
The figure made up of all the points common to a superficies and a solid which meet, or to two superficies which meet, or to two lines which meet. In the first case the section is a superficies, in the second a line, and in the third a point.
Section
A distinct part of a country or people, community, class, or the like; a part of a territory separated by geographical lines, or of a people considered as distinct.
The extreme section of one class consists of bigoted dotards, the extreme section of the other consists of shallow and reckless empirics.
Section
A division of a genus; a group of species separated by some distinction from others of the same genus; - often indicated by the sign .
Section
One of the portions, of one square mile each, into which the public lands of the United States are divided; one thirty-sixth part of a township. These sections are subdivided into quarter sections for sale under the homestead and preëmption laws.
Section
A part of a musical period, composed of one or more phrases. See Phrase.
Section
The description or representation of anything as it would appear if cut through by any intersecting plane; depiction of what is beyond a plane passing through, or supposed to pass through, an object, as a building, a machine, a succession of strata; profile.
Section
A self-contained part of a larger composition (written or musical);
He always turns first to the business section
The history of this work is discussed in the next section
Section
A very thin slice (of tissue or mineral or other substance) for examination under a microscope;
Sections from the left ventricle showed diseased tissue
Section
A distinct region or subdivision of a territorial or political area or community or group of people;
No section of the nation is more ardent than the South
There are three synagogues in the Jewish section
Section
One of several parts or pieces that fit with others to constitute a whole object;
A section of a fishing rod
Metal sections were used below ground
Finished the final segment of the road
Section
A small team of policemen working as part of a police platoon
Section
One of the portions into which something is regarded as divided and which together constitute a whole;
The written part of the exam
The finance section of the company
The BBC's engineering division
Section
A land unit of 1 square mile measuring 1 mile on a side
Section
(geometry) the area created by a plane cutting through a solid
Section
A division of an orchestra containing all instruments of the same class
Section
A small army unit usually having a special function
Section
A specialized division of a large organization;
You'll find it in the hardware department
She got a job in the historical section of the Treasury
Section
A segment of a citrus fruit;
He ate a section of the orange
Section
The cutting of or into body tissues or organs (especially by a surgeon as part of an operation)
Section
Divide into segments;
Segment an orange
Segment a compound word
Section
One of the parts into which an object is divided.
The toy came in several sections to be assembled.
Section
A cut or slice of something, especially one that reveals the inside.
The geologist studied the rock section carefully.
Common Curiosities
Is every division in a book called a chapter?
Not always. Books can have parts, volumes, or sections, among other divisions.
Is a chapter longer than a section in a book?
Typically, yes. A chapter is a main division, while a section is a subdivision.
Can newspapers have sections?
Yes, newspapers often have sections like 'Sports', 'Entertainment', and 'Opinions'.
Can a chapter contain multiple sections?
Yes, a chapter can have several sections to organize content.
Can the term 'chapter' be used outside of book contexts?
Yes, it can refer to periods in history, life, or organizational branches.
Can the word 'section' refer to parts outside of literature?
Absolutely. A section can denote divisions in music, space, or even organizational entities.
Is a section in music the same as in a book?
Not exactly. In music, a section refers to a distinct segment or part of a composition.
Can a book be just one chapter?
Yes, some short books or stories might be just one chapter long.
Are sections always titled?
Not necessarily. Some sections may be numbered or not delineated at all.
Are chapters and sections used in digital content?
Yes, digital books, websites, and courses can also have chapters and sections for organization.
Can 'chapter and section' refer to legal contexts?
Yes, in legal documents, 'chapter' might denote a significant division, while 'section' refers to specific clauses or provisions.
Can a chapter be a part of a section?
In some books, especially academic ones, sections might be broader categories containing multiple chapters.
Can one skip sections or chapters while reading?
Yes, but doing so might miss out on crucial information or story progression.
Are sections and chapters always in a hierarchical relationship?
Often, but not always. The relationship can vary based on the content's structure.
How are chapters and sections indicated in content?
Through headings, numbering, or titles to differentiate and organize content.
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Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
