Meaning

noun a subdivision of a larger religious group

noun a dissenting clique

originFrom Middle English secte, from Old French secte (“a sect in philosophy or religion”), from Late Latin secta (“a sect in philosophy or religion, a school, party, faction, class, guild, band, particularly a heretical doctrine or sect, etc.”), possibly, from Latin sequi (“to follow”). Alternatively linked to sectus (“cut off, divided”), past participle of secō.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0