department

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[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

From French département.

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Noun

Singular
department

Plural
departments

department (plural departments)

  1. A part, portion, or subdivision.
  2. A distinct course of life, action, study, or the like; appointed sphere or walk; province.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. A military subdivision of a country; as, the Department of the Potomac.
  6. (obsolete) Act of departing; departure.
    • Sudden departments from one extreme to another. Wotton.

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