quarter vs section

quarter

noun
  • Each of four equal parts into which something can be divided; a fourth part. 

  • A fourth part of the night; one of the watches or divisions of the night. 

  • One's residence or dwelling-place; (in plural) rooms, lodgings, especially as allocated to soldiers or domestic staff. 

  • A region or place. 

  • The aftmost part of a vessel's side, roughly from the last mast to the stern. 

  • A quarter of an acre or 40 roods. 

  • A fourth part of the year; 3 months; a term or season. 

  • A division or section of a town or city, especially having a particular character of its own, or associated with a particular group etc. 

  • A section (of a population), especially one having a particular set of values or interests. 

  • Accommodation given to a defeated opponent; mercy; exemption from being killed. 

  • A fourth part of a pound; approximately 113 grams. 

  • A quarter-dollar, divided into 25 cents; the coin of that value minted in the United States or Canada. 

  • Each of four parts into which the earth or sky is divided, corresponding to the four cardinal points of the compass. 

  • A fourth part of a coat of arms, or the charge on it, larger than a canton and normally on the upper dexter side, formed by a perpendicular line from the top meeting a horizontal line from the side. 

  • A measure of length; originally a fourth part of an ell, now chiefly a fourth part of a yard. 

  • A quarterfinal. 

  • A measure of capacity used chiefly for grain or coal, varying greatly in quantity by time and location. 

  • A fourth part of an hour; a period of fifteen minutes, especially with reference to the quarter before or after the hour. 

  • The part on either side of a horse's hoof between the toe and heel, the side of its coffin. 

  • One of four equal periods into which a game is divided. 

  • A fourth part of a hundredweight. 

adj
  • Consisting of a fourth part, a quarter (¹⁄₄, 25%). 

  • Related to a three-month term, a quarter of a year. 

  • Pertaining to an aspect of a quarter. 

verb
  • To provide housing for military personnel or other equipment. 

  • To lodge; to have a temporary residence. 

  • To divide into quarters; to divide by four. 

  • To quartersaw. 

section

noun
  • A part, piece, subdivision of anything. 

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

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

  • A piece of residential land; a plot. 

  • 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 §. 

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 quarter and section occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )