Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The state or character of being sectarian; adherence to a separate religious sect or party; especially, excessive partizan or denominational zeal.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The quality or character of a sectarian; devotion to the interests of a party; excess of partisan or denominational zeal; adherence to a separate church organization.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Rigid adherence to a particular sect, party or denomination.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a narrow-minded adherence to a particular sect or party or denomination

Etymologies

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Examples

  • The term sectarianism originated with the Protestant Reformation starting in the 1500s.

    Chip Berlet: Abstaining from Bad Sects Chip Berlet 2010

  • The term sectarianism originated with the Protestant Reformation starting in the 1500s.

    Chip Berlet: Abstaining from Bad Sects Chip Berlet 2010

  • The term sectarianism originated with the Protestant Reformation starting in the 1500s.

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com Chip Berlet 2010

  • Then, for that vice of the mind which I call sectarianism, -- not in the religious sense of the word, but little, narrow prejudices, that make you hate your next-door neighbor because he has his eggs roasted when you have yours boiled; and gossipping and prying into people's affairs, and backbiting, and thinking heaven and earth are coming together if some broom touch a cobweb that you have let grow over the window-sill of your brains what like a large and generous, mildly aperient (I beg your pardon, my dear) course of history!

    The Caxtons — Complete Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton 1838

  • Then, for that vice of the mind which I call sectarianism, -- not in the religious sense of the word, but little, narrow prejudices, that make you hate your next-door neighbor because he has his eggs roasted when you have yours boiled; and gossipping and prying into people's affairs, and backbiting, and thinking heaven and earth are coming together if some broom touch a cobweb that you have let grow over the window-sill of your brains what like a large and generous, mildly aperient (I beg your pardon, my dear) course of history!

    The Caxtons — Volume 09 Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton 1838

  • First of all congratulations on doing such a great job of planting the seeds of awareness in the hearts of so many that sectarianism is self defeating.

    Global Voices in English » Pakistan: Prachinar, The Valley Of Death 2009

  • The question has to do with the problem we know as sectarianism that often occurs between comrades of the leftwing parties.

    MEETS UNIVERSITY STUDENTS 1971

  • ALLAWI: Unless the government decides to embark on a course of national unity or national reconciliation, on getting away from sectarianism, which is crushing the Iraqi people, it's very difficult to rejoin the government.

    CNN Transcript Aug 26, 2007 2007

  • Al-Sumaria Iraqi satellite TV station yesterday, al-Maliki called sectarianism "the root of Iraq problems."

    Elections - fresh news by plazoo.com 2009

  • The French president says he rejects the idea of sectarianism and self-confinement.

    Brandon Sun Online - Top Stories 2009

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