Sector

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Sector \Sec"tor\, n. [L., properly, a cutter, fr. secare,
     sectum, to cut: cf. F. secteur. See {Section}.]
     1. (Geom.) A part of a circle comprehended between two radii
        and the included arc.
        [1913 Webster]
  


     2. A mathematical instrument, consisting of two rulers
        connected at one end by a joint, each arm marked with
        several scales, as of equal parts, chords, sines,
        tangents, etc., one scale of each kind on each arm, and
        all on lines radiating from the common center of motion.
        The sector is used for plotting, etc., to any scale.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. An astronomical instrument, the limb of which embraces a
        small portion only of a circle, used for measuring
        differences of declination too great for the compass of a
        micrometer. When it is used for measuring zenith distances
        of stars, it is called a zenith sector.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {Dip sector}, an instrument used for measuring the dip of the
        horizon.
  
     {Sector of a sphere}, or {Spherical sector}, the solid
        generated by the revolution of the sector of a circle
        about one of its radii, or, more rarely, about any
        straight line drawn in the plane of the sector through its
        vertex.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  sector
       n 1: a plane figure bounded by two radii and the included arc of
            a circle
       2: a body of people who form part of society or economy; "the
          public sector"
       3: a particular aspect of life or activity; "he was helpless in
          an important sector of his life" [syn: {sphere}]
       4: the minimum track length that can be assigned to store
          information; unless otherwise specified a sector of data
          consists of 512 bytes
       5: a portion of a military position
       6: measuring instrument consisting of two graduated arms hinged
          at one end

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  36 Moby Thesaurus words for "sector":
     adjunct, component, contingent, crescent, cross section,
     detachment, detail, district, division, dole, fraction,
     half circle, hemicycle, installment, item, parcel, part,
     particular, percentage, portion, precinct, quadrant, quarter,
     quota, random sample, remainder, sample, sampling, section,
     segment, semicircle, sextant, share, subdivision, subgroup,
     subspecies