Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A distinct, usually specialized division of a large organization, especially.
  • noun A principal administrative division of a government.
  • noun A division of a business specializing in a particular product or service.
  • noun A division of a school or college dealing with a particular field of knowledge.
  • noun One of the principal executive divisions of the federal government of the United States, headed by a cabinet officer.
  • noun A section of a department store selling a particular line of merchandise.
  • noun An administrative district in France.
  • noun A unit of a warship's crew, organized by function, such as gunnery or engineering.
  • noun An area of particular knowledge or responsibility; a specialty.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A separate part or division of a complex whole; a distinct branch or province; a subdivision, as of a class or group of activities, organizations, or the like: as, the various departments of life, knowledge, science, business, etc.; the departments of an army or a factory.
  • noun A division of official duties or functions; a branch of government; a distinct part of a governmental organization: as, the legislative, executive, and judicial departments; the Department of State, of the Treasury, etc. See phrases below.
  • noun A division of territory; one of the provinces or principal districts into which some countries are divided for governmental or other purposes, such as the departments of France and the military administrative departments of the United States: as, the department of Saône-et-Loire in France; the department of the Platte.
  • noun A going away; departure.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete Act of departing; departure.
  • noun A part, portion, or subdivision.
  • noun A distinct course of life, action, study, or the like; appointed sphere or walk; province.
  • noun Subdivision of business or official duty; especially, one of the principal divisions of executive government; ; also, in a university, one of the divisions of instruction
  • noun 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.
  • noun A military subdivision of a country.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A part, portion, or subdivision.
  • noun A distinct course of life, action, study, or the like; appointed sphere or walk; province.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • noun A military subdivision of a country; as, the Department of the Potomac.
  • noun obsolete Act of departing; departure.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the territorial and administrative division of some countries (such as France)
  • noun a specialized division of a large organization
  • noun a specialized sphere of knowledge

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French département, from Old French, separation, from departir, to divide; see depart.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French département.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word department.

Examples

  • Calling the term department store "a dirty word," the executive, whose father is CEO, said, "We wanted to signal that we were up to something."

    Investors Push Dillard Family 2008

  • But now the assayer came up, bringing with him a nice elaborate calculation on a black slate, showing exactly how much pure gold Onucz had handed in to the coining department, how much it would be worth when coined and deducting three per cent for expenses, how much he was to receive in cash by way of exchange.

    The Poor Plutocrats M��r J��kai 1864

  • He started out working in the title department at the Atlanta law firm Hansell Post Brandon

    ajc.com - News 2009

  • He started out working in the title department at the Atlanta law firm Hansell Post Brandon

    ajc.com - News 2009

  • She said the department is also working closely with Mexico on investigations and helping to mentor prosecutors there.

    U.S. in New Drug-Money Push Joseph Palazzolo 2010

  • Justice spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler said Friday that the department is abiding by its standard practice of defending existing law and that the filing doesn't mean Obama has changed his mind about wanting to see gay couples win federal recognition.

    Defending the Indefensible 2009

  • For example, if the supervisor admits that it will be hard to get you more than the original offer because the department is already over budget for salary, you can sympathize -- and then offer some movement in your salary request in return for something unbudgeted (extra vacation) or from a non-salary budget (benefits, perks). maines19 abhiroop

    Negotiate Your Salary More Effectively | Lifehacker Australia 2009

  • This department is the only thing between you and your family drinking unpolluted water, because some company thought it was cheaper to dump it's toxic waste into a creek than to pay for processing the waste material.

    View from the 'sidekick' seat on a Tea Party bus 2010

  • A department spokesman, in response, hailed what he called the department's "terrific flexplace program."

    AFGE pushes for flextime at Labor Department 2010

  • I work in Australia, my department is almost eclusivly 2 up, for general duties (response) work anyway.

    Homo Electric « POLICE INSPECTOR BLOG Inspector Gadget 2008

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • dePARTment

    August 6, 2008