department

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a specialized sphere of knowledge

   baking is not my department

2. 2
   noun

   a specialized division of a large organization

   you'll find it in the hardware department

3. 3
   noun

   A distinct course of life, action, study, or the like.

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

4. 4
   noun

   A specified aspect or quality.

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

5. 5
   noun

   A subdivision of an organization.

   the Treasury Department; the Department of Agriculture; police department

6. 6
   noun

   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.

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

7. 7
   noun

   A military subdivision of a country

   the Department of the Potomac

8. 8
   noun

   Act of departing; departure.

   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.

Etymology

From Middle English departement (“ceasing, end”), from Middle French département. Later senses borrowed from Modern French département. Doublet of département.