Transect
/trænˈsɛkt/noun
To cut across something, especially to divide or cross it with a line or path.
Did you know?Transect comes from Latin roots meaning “across” + “cut,” and in science it became the precise word for a line that slices through an area to reveal what’s hidden inside.
Etymological Timeline
Latin
Latin
trans
“across, beyond, through”
Latin
Latin
secare
“to cut”
Late Latin / Medieval Latin
Latin
transectus
“cut across; intersected”
16th Century
English
transect
“to cut across or divide by cutting”
Modern English
English
transect
“to cross or divide with a line, especially in surveying or ecology”