chapter
UK[ˈtʃaptə]US[ˈtʃæptər]
n
any of the separate parts into which a book or other piece of text is divided, usually with a number or title
n
a period of time or an event in a person's life, in a country's history, etc.
n
a local branch of a society, club, or fraternity
Etymology
The word 'chapter' entered English in the 13th century from the Old French 'chapitre', which itself derived from the Latin 'capitulum', meaning "little head" or "a division of a book". This Latin term is a diminutive of 'caput', meaning "head". The conceptual link is clear: just as a head is a main division of the body, a chapter is a main division of a book. This metaphorical extension from the physical "head" to an organizational unit in text was already established in Latin and was seamlessly adopted into English via French, solidifying its abstract meaning related to sections and periods.
Analysis
The word 'chapter' is a simplex loanword from Old French. Its spelling and form have been fully lexicalized into English, making internal morphemes from the source languages (Latin 'caput' and its derivative 'capitulum') no longer directly segmentable as substrings of the modern English word.
Examples
The final chapter of the novel reveals the mystery.
Moving to a new city marked an exciting new chapter in her life.
He is an active member of the local chapter of the engineering society.