department

department

/dɪˈpɑːtmənt/

(abbreviation Dept)

​a section of a large organization such as a government, business, university, etc.

department of something the Department of Health

He is a lecturer in the department of psychology at Trinity College, Dublin.

the Treasury Department

a government/university, etc. department

the marketing/sales, etc. department

The children's department (= in a large store) sells a wide range of good quality clothes.

the English department

in a department She used to work in the IT department.

He later served as head of the art history department.

A new member of staff has joined the department.

Complaints are dealt with in a different department.

Contact our sales department for more information.

Staff criticized the way the history department was run.

The Tokyo police department is clamping down on organized crime.

the Department for Transport

to gain promotion within the department

I work in the sales department.

Several professors from the history department will also speak at the event.

The Department of Trade and Industry refused to comment on the allegations.

Idioms

Word Origin

late Middle English: from Old French departement, from departir, based on Latin dispertire ‘to divide’. The original sense was ‘division or distribution’, later ‘separation’, hence ‘a separate part’ (core sense, mid 18th cent.).