chapter

chap·ter

 (chăp′tər)

n.

1.

a. One of the main divisions of a relatively lengthy piece of writing, such as a book, that is usually numbered or titled.

b. One of the main divisions of a video recording, usually accessible through an onscreen menu.

2. 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.

3. A local branch of an organization, such as a club or fraternity: The Chicago chapter is admitting new members this year.

4. Ecclesiastical

a. An assembly of the canons of a church or of the members of a religious residence.

b. The canons of a church or the members of a religious residence considered as a group.

5. A short scriptural passage read after the psalms in certain church services.


[Middle English chaptre, variant of chapitre, chapter, chapiter, from Old French, alteration of chapitle, from Latin capitulum, diminutive of caput, head; see kaput- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

chapter

(ˈtʃæptə)

n

1. (Printing, Lithography & Bookbinding) a division of a written work, esp a narrative, usually titled or numbered

2. a sequence of events having a common attribute: a chapter of disasters.

3. chapter of accidents

a. a series of misfortunes

b. the unforeseeable course of events

4. an episode or period in a life, history, etc

5. (Parliamentary Procedure) a numbered reference to that part of a Parliamentary session which relates to a specified Act of Parliament

6. a branch of some societies, clubs, etc, esp of a secret society

7. (Ecclesiastical Terms) the collective body or a meeting of the canons of a cathedral or collegiate church or of the members of a monastic or knightly order.

8. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) a general assembly of some organization

9. chapter and verse exact authority for an action or statement

vb

(tr) to divide into chapters

[C13: from Old French chapitre, from Latin capitulum, literally: little head, hence, section of writing, from caput head; in Medieval Latin: chapter of scripture or of a religious rule, a gathering for the reading of this, hence, assemblage of clergy]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

chap•ter

(ˈtʃæp tər)
n.

1. a main division of a book, treatise, or the like, usu. bearing a number or title.

2. a branch of a society, fraternity, etc.

3. an important portion or division of anything: a new chapter in evolution.

4.

a. an assembly of the monks in a monastery, in a province, or of the entire order.

b. a general assembly of the canons of a church.

c. the body of such monks or canons collectively.

5. any general assembly.

6. a short scriptural quotation read at various parts of the office.

v.t.

7. to arrange in chapters.

[1175–1225; chapitre < Old French < Latin capitulum little head; in Late Latin: section of a book; in Medieval Latin: section read at a meeting, hence, the meeting, especially one of canons, hence, a body of canons]

chap′ter•al, adj.

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

Chapter

 the body or community of an organized branch of a society or church, monastic or religious order, or of any order of knights; a unit that is a sequential part of a series; used figuratively.

Examples: chapter of accidents, 1773; of canons, 1305; of friars, 1679; of knights, 1842; of the Noble Order of the Garter, 1681; of noble virgins; of possibilities, 1769.

Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun1.chapter - a subdivision of a written work; usually numbered and titled; "he read a chapter every night before falling asleep"

text, textual matter - the words of something written; "there were more than a thousand words of text"; "they handed out the printed text of the mayor's speech"; "he wants to reconstruct the original text"

section, subdivision - 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"

2.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"

phase, stage - any distinct time period in a sequence of events; "we are in a transitional stage in which many former ideas must be revised or rejected"

3.chapter - a local branch of some fraternity or association; "he joined the Atlanta chapter"

association - a formal organization of people or groups of people; "he joined the Modern Language Association"

gild, guild, social club, society, club, lodge, order - a formal association of people with similar interests; "he joined a golf club"; "they formed a small lunch society"; "men from the fraternal order will staff the soup kitchen today"

frat, fraternity - a social club for male undergraduates

4.chapter - an ecclesiastical assembly of the monks in a monastery or even of the canons of a church

assembly - a group of persons who are gathered together for a common purpose

5.chapter - a series of related events forming an episode; "a chapter of disasters"

episode - a happening that is distinctive in a series of related events

Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

chapter

noun

2. period, time, stage, phase It was one of the most dramatic chapters of recent British politics.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

kapitola

kapitelafsnit

luku

poglavljeglavaodjeljenjepodružnica

fejezet

kafli

capitulum

nelaimių virtinėskyrius

nodaļa

podružnicapoglavje

kapitelavdelning

บทของหนังสือหรืองานเขียน

chương

chapter

[ˈtʃæptəʳ]

A. N

3. (= branch of society, organization) → sección f

4. (fig) (= period) a chapter of accidentsuna serie de desgracias

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

chapter

[ˈtʃæptər] n

(= era) [life, history] → chapitre m

(= series) a chapter of accidents → une série d'accidents

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

chapter

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

chapter

(ˈtʃӕptə) noun

a main division of a book. There are fifteen chapters in his new book.

a chapter of accidents

a whole series of disasters.

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.

chapter

فَصْل kapitola kapitel Kapitel κεφάλαιο capítulo luku chapitre poglavlje capitolo hoofdstuk kapittel rozdział capítulo глава kapitel บทของหนังสือหรืองานเขียน bölüm chương

Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009

English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012