area vs section

area

noun
  • A particular geographic region. 

  • Any particular extent of surface, especially an empty or unused extent. 

  • An open space, below ground level, giving access to the basement of a house, and typically separated from the pavement by railings. 

  • The extent, scope, or range of an object or concept. 

  • Genitals. 

  • A measure of the extent of a surface; it is measured in square units. 

  • Penalty box; penalty area. 

section

noun
  • A piece of residential land; a plot. 

  • The symbol §, denoting a section of a document. 

  • An informal taxonomic rank below the order ranks and above the family ranks. 

  • Synonym of square mile, a unit of land area, especially in the contexts of Canadan surveys and (historical) American land grants. 

  • A sequence of rock layers. 

  • A thin slice of material prepared as a specimen for research. 

  • 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. 

  • A right inverse. 

  • A cross-section perpendicular the longitudinal axis of an aircraft in flight. 

  • A group of instruments in an orchestra. 

  • An act or instance of cutting. 

  • A cutting; a part cut out from the rest of something. 

  • A cross-section (image that shows an object as if cut along a plane). 

  • An incision or the act of making an incision. 

  • A taxonomic rank below the genus (and subgenus if present), but above the species. 

  • A group of 10-15 soldiers led by a non-commissioned officer and forming part of a platoon. 

  • A part of a document, especially a major part; often notated with §. 

  • A part, piece, subdivision of anything. 

verb
  • To reduce to the degree of thinness required for study with the microscope. 

  • To perform a cesarean section on (someone). 

  • 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. 

  • To cut, divide or separate into pieces. 

How often have the words area and section occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )