DEPARTMENT • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Department

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/dɪpˈɑrtmənt/ Listen

noun

Department n.

Act of departing; departure. (Obs.) "Sudden departments from one extreme to another."

A part, portion, or subdivision.

A distinct course of life, action, study, or the like; appointed sphere or walk; province. "Superior to Pope in Pope's own peculiar department of literature."

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.

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.

A military subdivision of a country; as, the Department of the Potomac.

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Etymology of 'Department'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Department" Quotes from Famous Books

... or two had been made before by the State Department to interfere with the trappings of its servants abroad. Marcy issued a circular requesting American diplomatists to go to court without uniform. This afforded James Buchanan an opportunity of making one of the best speeches attributed to him. The circular ...

— Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Vol. XII. No. 30. September, 1873 • Various

... asked, What is the Greek Church doing at the present time in the department of hymnody, in which her ancient offices are so rich? Much; but as present day compositions are not used in the canonical services, the supply of such material is not encouraged as it would be in other circumstances, and as it is in the West, ...

— Hymns from the Morningland - Being Translations, Centos and Suggestions from the Service - Books of the Holy Eastern Church • Various

... the lady's card from whom she had taken the purse and had Mattie return the money and bag with a note withholding her name. They had her draw out the money obtained from the sale of the purloined articles and return it to the head of the Department Store saying that the things had been taken and sold under great provocation for a sick child, enumerating them and the prices, after which she felt happier, for she knew that the girls would remain her friends. "Some day," she said, "I ...

— Ethel Hollister's Second Summer as a Campfire Girl • Irene Elliott Benson

... Frawley said judicially. "I ought to have sent word to the department. Still, it's not over yet—his horse won't last long. Well, ...

— Murder in Any Degree • Owen Johnson

... he should cherish this discontent, for Eustace Margraf, mindful of the fact that he was made for something better than mill work, had matriculated and graduated at the World's University in the Department of Forgery and Theft. He had taken the highest diplomas in fraud; he had passed with honours the test of an accomplished swindler; and in the intricacies of embezzlement he was Senior Wrangler. Yet he was not content; ...

— The Strand Magazine, Volume V, Issue 28, April 1893 - An Illustrated Monthly • Various

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