the golden section the division of a line so that the whole is to the greater part as that part is to the smaller part.

☞ This is a mathematical term for a proportion known since the 4th century and mentioned in the works of the Greek mathematician Euclid. It has been called by several names, but the mid-19th-century German one goldene Schnitt, translating Latin sectio aurea, has given rise to the current English term.