cross-sectional

IPA/kɹˈɒssˈɛkʃənəl/
IPA/kɹˈɔssˈɛkʃənəl/

cross-sectional — adjective

1. used to describe a type of research that gathers information from a group of peo

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

used to describe a type of research that gathers information from a group of people or things at a single point in time, instead of watching them develop over months or years.

Example

A cross-sectional survey of 600 Bangkok households measured how many had high-speed internet access.

attributive: cross-sectional + survey

Unlike a ten-year longitudinal study, a cross-sectional study compares different age groups at one moment.

contrasted with longitudinal — opposite method

Common collocations
  • cross-sectional study
  • cross-sectional survey
  • cross-sectional analysis
  • cross-sectional research
  • cross-sectional data
  • cross-sectional design
Synonyms
  • snapshot

    informal synonym — 'a snapshot survey'; less technical than cross-sectional

  • one-time

    emphasises the single measurement point; less common in academic writing

Antonyms
  • longitudinal

    the opposite research design — follows subjects over an extended period

Grammar Patterns

cross-sectional + noun (study, survey, analysis, research)

Usage Note

Frequently used as an attributive modifier before nouns such as study, survey, research, analysis, or design. Does not appear predicatively — you would not say 'this research is cross-sectional'; instead say 'this is a cross-sectional study'.

Common Mistakes

The researchers did a cross-section study of diabetes rates.
The researchers did a cross-sectional study of diabetes rates.
When the word acts as an adjective before a noun, use the -al form cross-sectional, not the noun cross-section.
A cross-sectional research follows different age groups over time.
A longitudinal study follows the same group over time; a cross-sectional study collects data at one point.
Learners often confuse the two methods; cross-sectional is a single snapshot, not a timeline.

2. showing or relating to a picture, diagram, or image that reveals the inside of s

2.adjectiveB1
Definition

showing or relating to a picture, diagram, or image that reveals the inside of something by cutting straight through it.

Example

The biology textbook included a cross-sectional diagram of the human heart with the four chambers clearly labelled.

attributive: cross-sectional + diagram

The architect drew a cross-sectional view of the five-storey building to show the lift shaft.

Common collocations
  • cross-sectional view
  • cross-sectional diagram
  • cross-sectional image
  • cross-sectional drawing
  • cross-sectional slice
Synonyms
  • cutaway

    common in diagrams and illustrations — 'a cutaway drawing of an engine'

  • sectional

    shorter form, used especially in architecture and engineering

Grammar Patterns

cross-sectional + noun (view, diagram, image, drawing)

Usage Note

Used attributively before nouns for visual representations. In technical contexts it may appear after 'is' when the noun serving as subject is also a visual term: 'This view is cross-sectional.'

Common Mistakes

The cross-section view shows the pipe's interior.
The cross-sectional view shows the pipe's interior.
Use the adjective cross-sectional before the noun view.
A cross-sectional slice of the fruit was placed on the plate.
A cross-section of the fruit was placed on the plate.
For the physical object itself (the slice), use the noun cross-section, not the adjective.

cross-sectional — noun

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/2

All three words describe something that reveals internal structure, but they differ in context and scope. Cutaway is the most visual and informal — it appears in magazines, instruction manuals, and museum displays ('a cutaway model of the engine'). Sectional is the broadest term, used in anatomy and architecture to describe any view created by an imaginary cut ('a sectional view of the building'). Transverse is a technical term in geometry and biology meaning 'at a right angle to the long axis' ('a transverse section of the spinal cord'). Cross-sectional overlaps most closely with sectional and cutaway in everyday contexts but is preferred in academic research methodology (sense 1) for a completely different meaning, which can confuse learners. For diagrams showing interiors, cutaway is the clearest choice for general readers; cross-sectional is more formal and clinical.

cutaway ↗sectionaltransverse ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

  • broadly cross-sectional
  • purely cross-sectional

Phrases

  • a cross-section of society
  • a cross-section of the population
  • cross-sectional data analysis

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinEnglish

The word cross-sectional is formed from the prefix cross- (meaning 'across' or 'extending from side to side') and the noun section (from Latin sectio, 'a cutting', derived from secare 'to cut'). The combination cross-section first appeared in English in the 1600s in geometry to describe a plane cut at a right angle. By the 1800s, the adjective cross-sectional was used in anatomy and engineering for diagrams that 'cut through' an object. In the early 1900s, social scientists adopted cross-sectional to describe research that 'cuts across' a population at a single point in time — extending the original physical metaphor to a temporal one.