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. Deputy Chief Mike Hartley:

   A terroristic threats report related to this incident was taken by our police department yesterday and will be investigated like any other similar offense report.

2. Jason Brodsky:

   The regimes priority remains its own survival and financing its proxies and partners over its people. Even during this time of economic turmoil, according to the U.S. State Department, Irans supreme leader just last month increased funding for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps 33 percent higher than President Rouhanis original request and more than doubled the funding of the Basij. So, the risk of diversion of funds looms large.

3. Recruit Hardy:

   He was so stern. A man of his word, he'd come home and tell us about what he'd witness out there. He was the only African-American sergeant in the department and was able to overcome the challenges. He instilled good values and I looked up to that.

4. President Trump:

   I don’t want to talk about pardons for Michael Flynn yet. We’ll see what happens, let’s see, I can say this: When you look at what’s gone on with the FBI and the Justice Department, people are very, very angry.

5. Josh Earnest:

   The president is, after all, the commander-in-chief. So he obviously has significant say over what kinds of things are happening over at the Department of Defense.

Images & Illustrations of department

Popularity rank by frequency of use