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department definition

de·part·ment (dē pärt′mənt, di-)

noun

  1. a separate part, division, or branch, as of a government, business, or school the police department, the accounting department, the history department
  2. a field of knowledge or activity rewriting is his department
  3. ☆ a specialized column or section appearing regularly in a periodical
  4. an administrative district in France, Greece, or certain Latin American countries

Etymology: ME & OFr departement < departir: see depart

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Alternate definitions:

business department definition - business

department Synonyms

department

n.

  1. The field of one's activity

    jurisdiction, activity, interest, occupation, province, bureau, incumbency, business, capacity, dominion, administration, sphere, appointed sphere, sphere of duty, station, function, office, walk of life, avocation, vocation, specialty, field, duty, assignment, bailiwick, berth, niche, spot*; see also job 1.

  2. An organized subdivision

    section, office, bureau, division, branch, unit, district, precinct, tract, range, quarter, area, arena, corps, agency, board, commission, administration, circuit, territory, canton, parish, shire, constituency, commune, ward, geographical division, regional authority, district office, force, staff, beat*; see also authority 3, branch 1, committee, division 2, 5.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

department Usage Examples

Preposition: of

  • sociology: Department of Sociology, University of Oxford, January.

Converse of object

  • contact: For more information either contact the department directly or the Alumni office.

Adjective modifier

  • academic: In addition, Agency staff could be seconded to industry, public interest groups or academic departments to broaden their experience.

Modifies a noun

  • store: I did my research in the usual department stores to see what was on offer.

Noun used with modifier

  • government: The first Census in Scotland, under the new government department of the General Register Office for Scotland, was in 1861.
department usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

department quotes

It appears, then, that ethics, as a branch of knowledge, is nothing more than a department of psychologyand sociology.

-Ayer, SirAlfred Jules

News, Opinion and Advertisment must all come under the head of Entertainment to a reasonable extentöor they will not be read.People do not read to be bored. Unless a newspaper can make its material in every department interesting it simply is not read.

-Baron

Now,Watson, the fair sex is your department.

-Doyle, SirArthur Conan

department quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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MLA Style

"department." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 4 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/department>

APA Style

department. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 4th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/department

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