department

Definitions

1. 1.A part, portion, or subdivision.
2. 2.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. Macaulay.
3. 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. 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. 5.A military subdivision of a country; as, the Department of the Potomac.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Synonyms

Related questions

• What does "department" mean?
• What is another word for "department"?

Reverse-dictionary questions

Definition-first questions whose answer is department.

• What is 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. Macaulay called?
• What is a military subdivision of a country; as, the Department of the Potomac called?