Definitions for department
dɪˈpɑrt məntde·part·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. Tim Scott:

   This week, a Department of Justice memo written under President George H.W. Bush was released that shed new light on Mr. Farr's activities. This, in turn, created more concerns. Weighing these important factors, this afternoon I concluded that I could not support Mr. Farr's nomination.

2. Tom Sacks-Wilner:

   I think they are taking a shift towards the general (election), the finance department’s not objecting to it at this point.

3. The Army:

   The Department of Defense has confidence in the military justice system. The President is part of the military justice system as the Commander-in-Chief and has the authority to weigh in on matters of this nature.

4. James Comey:

   Her meeting with President Clinton on that airplane was the capper for me, and I then said, 'You know what? The department cannot, by itself, credibly end this,'.

5. Jeff Sessions:

   I will not be able to describe on any matters, the parameters of matters that might be under investigation, the subjects of any investigation, because it's an ongoing investigation, and I'm not at liberty to discuss it, and it's the policy of the department that on delineating or talking about recusals, in fact, does reveal that and you shouldn't talk about it publicly.

Images & Illustrations of department

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