chapter

Syllables: chap·ter/ˈt͡ʃæptə(r)//ˈt͡ʃæptɚ/

chapter noun: one of the main sections into which a published work is divided, especially a book.

Noun

chapter (plural chapters)

One of the main sections into which a published work is divided, especially a book.
- Detective novel writers try to keep up the suspense until the last chapter.
- At her invitation he outlined for her the succeeding chapters with terse military accuracy ; and what she liked best and best understood was avoidance of that false modesty which condescends, turning technicality into pabulum.1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter VIII, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC
1. A section of a work, a collection of works, or fragments of works, often manuscripts or transcriptions, created by scholars or advocates, not the original authors, to aid in finding portions of the texts.
  - CHAPTER - One of the principal divisions of a book, and, in reference to the Bible, one of the larger sections into which its books are divided. This division, as well as that consisting of verses, was introduced to facilitate reference, and not to indicate any natural or accurate division of the...1842, Walter Farquahar Hook, A Church Dictionary, published 1896
  - At least thirty-two of the first forty-seven decretal chapters were received by English ecclesiastics,1963, Charles Duggan, Twelfth-century Decretal Collections and Their Importance in English History, page 127
An assembly of monks, prebendaries and/or other clergymen connected with a cathedral, conventual or collegiate church, or of a diocese, usually presided over by the dean.
A community of canons or canonesses.
A bishop's council.
An administrative division of an organization, usually local to a specific area.
An organized branch of some society or fraternity, such as the Freemasons.
- If the By-Law which admits honorary members is silent upon their rights, they may perhaps be determined by a consideration of which of these classes was intended by the Chapter in admitting them1862, The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine
A meeting of a chapter of certain organized societies or orders.
A chapter house
A sequence (of events), especially when presumed related and likely to continue.
- "You know that Mr. Armadale is alive," pursued the doctor, "and you know that he is coming back to England. Why do you continue to wear your widow's dress?" ¶ She answered him without an instant's hesitation, steadily going on with her work. ¶ "Because I am of a sanguine disposition, like you. I...1866, Wilkie Collins, Armadale, Book the Last, Chapter I
- […]she determined to go on slowly towards Castra Regis, and trust to the chapter of accidents to pick up the trail again.1911, Bram Stoker, chapter 26, in The Lair of the White Worm
(obsolete) A location or compartment.
- In his bosom! In what chapter of his bosom?c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
A prescribed reading at one of the canonical hours.

Synonyms:

capitule

Verb

chapter (third-person singular simple present chapters, present participle chaptering, simple past and past participle chaptered)

To divide into chapters.
To put into a chapter.
To use administrative procedure to remove someone.
- If you're a single parent [soldier] and you can't find someone to take care of your children, they will chapter you out [administrative elimination from the service]. And yet if you use someone not certified, they get mad.2001, John Palmer Hawkins, Army of Hope, Army of Alienation: Culture and Contradiction in the American Army Communities of Cold War Germany, page 117
- "He also wanted me to give you a message. He said that if you don't get your shit ready for this deployment, then he will chapter you out of his freakin' army."2006, Thomas R. Schombert, Diaries of a Soldier: Nightmares from Within, page 100
(transitive) To take to task.

chapter meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

chapter in Hindi

section in a book: अध्याय adhyāy, बाब bāb, चैप्टर caipṭar, खंड khaṇḍ, खण्ड khaṇḍ
a division of an organization: शाखा śākhā, खंड khaṇḍ

chapter in Tamil

அத்தியாயம், படலம், அதிகாரம், இயல், தலைப்பிரிவு, சட்டப் பெரும்பிரிவு

chapter in Urdu

section in a book: باب bāb, فَصْل fasl, کھَنْڈ khanḍ

More languagesFewer languages

chapter in Bengali: অধ্যায় oddhaẏ
chapter in Telugu: ప్రకరణము prakaraṇamu
chapter in Malayalam: അദ്ധ്യായം addhyāyaṁ
chapter in Kannada: ಪಾಲರಿಕೆ, ಪಸುಗೆ, ಅಧ್ಯಾಯ, ಪ್ರಕರಣ
chapter in Punjabi: ਖੰਡ khaṇḍ
chapter in Gujarati: પ્રકરણ prakraṇ
chapter in Odia: ଖଣ୍ଡ khaṇḍa
chapter in Sanskrit: अध्याय adhyāya, काण्ड kāṇḍa
chapter in Assamese: উচ্ছ্বাস usssax
chapter in Nepali: अध्याय
chapter in Tagalog: kabanata
chapter in Arabic: فَصْل faṣl, بَاب bāb
chapter in Malay: bab
chapter in Indonesian: bab, bagian
chapter in Thai: บท bòt, ตอน dtɔɔn
chapter in Vietnamese: chương
chapter in Myanmar: အခန်း a.hkan:, ခန်း hkan:

Examples of chapter in a sentence

The story that unfolds through 70 chapters featuring intense tactical battles is full of plot twists and turns.2003 December, “Fire Emblem”, in Nintendo Power, volume 174, Strategy with a Story, page 33:
CHAPTER - One of the principal divisions of a book, and, in reference to the Bible, one of the larger sections into which its books are divided.1842, Walter Farquahar Hook, A Church Dictionary, published 1896:
il conclut: « No pope, no collection but the masters who served the one and commented on the other ultimately determined the content of this decretal chapter».1983, Revue théologique de Louvain - Volume 14, page 127:
But unlike a similar annotation, it has not been turned into a chapter title because the annotation “de quodam hermita” (Of a certain hermit) immediately preceded it.2017, Joshua Byron Smith, Walter Map and the Matter of Britain, page 67:

All 40 example sentences with chapter

Synonyms of chapter

Forms of chapter

Noun
plural	chapters
alternative form (obsolete)	chapiter
alternative form (obsolete)	chapitre
alternative form (obsolete)	chapiture
alternative form (obsolete)	chaptre
alternative form (obsolete)	chapyter
alternative form (obsolete)	chapytre
alternative form (obsolete)	chaptire
Verb
third-person singular present	chapters
present participle	chaptering
past participle	chaptered
past	chaptered

Plural of chapter: chapters

Origin of chapter

From Middle English chapitre, from Old French chapitre, from Latin capitulum (“a chapter of a book, in Medieval Latin also a synod or council”), diminutive of caput (“a head”); see capital, capitulum, and chapiter, which are doublets of chapter.

Words formed from chapter

Phrases with chapter

Words that rhyme with chapter

Questions about chapter

What does chapter mean?: Chapter means one of the main sections into which a published work is divided, especially a book.
What is chapter in Hindi?: Chapter in Hindi is अध्याय (adhyāy), बाब (bāb), चैप्टर (caipṭar). See Chapter meaning in Hindi.
How do you use chapter in a sentence?: The story that unfolds through 70 chapters featuring intense tactical battles is full of plot twists and turns.
What part of speech is chapter?: Chapter can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce chapter?: Chapter is pronounced /ˈt͡ʃæptə(r)/ (UK).
What is the plural of chapter?: The plural of chapter is chapters.

Words near chapter in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: chapter (page history and authors); chapter (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); प्रकरण (Marathi) (page history and authors); chapter (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਖੰਡ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); ଖଣ୍ଡ (Odia) (page history and authors); উচ্ছ্বাস (Assamese) (page history and authors); chapter (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

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Cite this entry: “chapter.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/chapter. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.