Definitions for Department
dɪˈpɑrt məntDepart·ment

Princeton's WordNet(2.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. department, section(noun)

   a specialized division of a large organization

   "you'll find it in the hardware department"; "she got a job in the historical section of the Treasury"

2. department(noun)

   the territorial and administrative division of some countries (such as France)

3. department(noun)

   a specialized sphere of knowledge

   "baking is not my department"; "his work established a new department of literature"

Wiktionary(2.40 / 5 votes)Rate this definition:

1. department(Noun)

   A part, portion, or subdivision.

   Etymology: From département.

2. department(Noun)

   A distinct course of life, action, study, or the like; appointed sphere or walk; province.

   Etymology: From département.

3. department(Noun)

   Subdivision of business or official duty; especially, one of the principal divisions of executive government; as, the treasury department; the war department; also, in a university, one of the divisions of instructions; as, the medical department; the department of physics.

   Etymology: From département.

4. department(Noun)

   A territorial division; a district; especially, in France, one of the districts composed of several arrondissements into which the country is divided for governmental purposes.

   Etymology: From département.

5. department(Noun)

   A military subdivision of a country; as, the Department of the Potomac.

   Etymology: From département.

6. department(Noun)

   Act of departing; departure.

   Etymology: From département.

Webster Dictionary(1.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Department(verb)

   act of departing; departure

   Etymology: [F. dpartement, fr. dpartir. See Depart, v. i.]

2. Department(verb)

   a part, portion, or subdivision

   Etymology: [F. dpartement, fr. dpartir. See Depart, v. i.]

3. Department(verb)

   a distinct course of life, action, study, or the like; appointed sphere or walk; province

   Etymology: [F. dpartement, fr. dpartir. See Depart, v. i.]

4. Department(verb)

   subdivision of business or official duty; especially, one of the principal divisions of executive government; as, the treasury department; the war department; also, in a university, one of the divisions of instruction; as, the medical department; the department of physics

   Etymology: [F. dpartement, fr. dpartir. See Depart, v. i.]

5. Department(verb)

   a territorial division; a district; esp., in France, one of the districts composed of several arrondissements into which the country is divided for governmental purposes; as, the Department of the Loire

   Etymology: [F. dpartement, fr. dpartir. See Depart, v. i.]

6. Department(verb)

   a military subdivision of a country; as, the Department of the Potomac

   Etymology: [F. dpartement, fr. dpartir. See Depart, v. i.]

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Department

   Department is the name given to the administrative and political subdivisions of many countries. As a territorial unit, "department" was first used by the French Revolutionary governments, apparently to emphasize that each territory was simply an administrative sub-division of the united sovereign nation. This attempt to de-emphasize local political identity contrasts strongly with countries which are divided into "states". Today, departments may exist either with or without a representative assembly and executive head depending upon the countries' constitutional and administrative structure. The United States used this designation for the "Department of Alaska" during the early period of US rule in Alaska.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Department

   de-pärt′ment, n. a part: a separate part of business or duty: a section of the administration: a division of a country, esp. of France.—adj. Department′al.—adv. Department′ally.

The Nuttall Encyclopedia(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Department

   a territorial division in France instituted in 1790, under which the old division into provinces was broken up; each department, of which there are now 87, is broken up into arrondissements.

Dictionary of Nautical Terms(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. department

   A term by which the divisions in the public services are distinguished, as the civil, the commissariat, the military, the naval, the victualling, &c.

Editors Contribution(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. department

   A facet of a business, company, enterprise, organization or form of unity assembly, unity council, unity legislature, unity senate, house of representatives, unity government, local unity government, regional unity government, national unity government, european unity government and international unity government with a specific purpose.

   The department had all the resources and income that they needed.

   Submitted by MaryC on February 18, 2020  

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'Department' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #531

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'Department' in Written Corpus Frequency: #875

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'Department' in Nouns Frequency: #153

How to pronounce Department?

1. Alex

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

How to say Department in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of Department in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of Department in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8

Examples of Department in a Sentence

1. Erica Newland:

   Justice Department puts those offices that are involved in reviewing proposed actions in an awkward position of trying to gather facts and other information themselves --- and that sets them up to miss things.

2. Police Superintendent David Brown:

   We need to recognize this progress and continue to work to improve in every area, the people ofChicagodeserve nothing less than a world-class police department that is constantly looking to make the city a safer place.

3. Robert Stokes:

   You look around and see unemployment. Filling out job applications and being turned down because of where you live and your demographic. It's so much bigger than the police department.

4. Gordon Merry:

   We were able to cut our death rate from 35 people last year to 25 this year, at this time, we attribute that to a lot that we are doing, such as giving Narcan to the police and fire departments and the Department of Health started a needle exchange program that brings people into clinics where they can also receive additional help.

5. Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens:

   There's not a member of the sheriff's department ... that does not feel that we let the public down.

Images & Illustrations of Department

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