source: By Unknown - British Museum, Public Domain

a group of people with somewhat different religious beliefs (typically regarded as heretical) from those of a larger group to which they belong.

(政界の)派閥, セクト, 党派; 学派.

often derogatory a group that has separated from an established Church; a nonconformist Church.

(ある宗教の)宗派, 分派, 教派(→ church)

a philosophical or political group, especially one regarded as extreme or dangerous.

Middle English: from Old French secte or Latin secta, literally ‘following’, hence ‘faction, party’, from the stem of sequi ‘follow’.