Department

/dɪˈpɑːtm(ə)nt/ · noun

Meaning

A part, portion, or subdivision..

Definitions by Sense

1. A part, portion, or subdivision.
2. A distinct course of life, action, study, or the like.
3. A specified aspect or quality.
4. A subdivision of an organization.
5. A territorial division; a district; especially, in France, one of the districts into which the country is divided for governmental purposes, similar to a county in the UK and in the USA. France is composed of 101 départements organized in 18 régions, each department is divided into arrondissements, in turn divided into cantons.
6. (historical) A military subdivision of a country
7. (obsolete) Act of departing; departure.

Example Sentences

Technical things are not his department; he's a people person.

Flair and invention were very much at a premium, suffocated by the relentless pace and often fractious nature of proceedings. The absence of James Morrison from the centre of Scotland’s midfield, the West Brom man ruled out on the morning of the game by illness, had already diminished the creative capacity of the home side in that department.

superior to Pope in Pope's own peculiar department of literature

The 2012 Boston Marathon was outstanding in the temperature department; runners endured temperatures of no less than 88 degrees Fahrenheit.

While the Chiefs superstar trails legendary quarterback Tom Brady in the Super Bowl wins department – the former Patriot and Tampa Bay Buccaneer has seven to Mahomes’ three – the chatter will only get louder and louder as to whether or not the 2023 Super Bowl MVP is the greatest of all time or not as he continues his career.

The departments were the bricks from which the edifice of the nation was to be constructed.

the Department of the Potomac

For though Contraria iuxta ſe poſita magis illuceſcunt [opposites placed next to each other shine more brightly] (by an olde Rule) yet it hath beene ſubtilly, and indeede truely noted that our Sight, is not vvell contented, vvith thoſe ſudden departments, from one extreame to another; Therefore let them haue, rather a Duskiſh Tincture, then an abſolute blacke.

Synonyms for department

Antonyms for department

Related Words

Word Forms

• departments

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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