DEPARTMENT

Pronunciation (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does department mean? 

• DEPARTMENT (noun)
  The noun DEPARTMENT has 3 senses:

1. a specialized division of a large organization
2. the territorial and administrative division of some countries (such as France)
3. a specialized sphere of knowledge

  Familiarity information: DEPARTMENT used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DEPARTMENT (noun)

Meaning:

A specialized division of a large organization

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

department; section

Context examples:

you'll find it in the hardware department / she got a job in the historical section of the Treasury

Hypernyms ("department" is a kind of...):

division (an administrative unit in government or business)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "department"):

academic department (a division of a school that is responsible for a given subject)

business department (a division of a business firm)

personnel; personnel department; personnel office; staff office (the department responsible for hiring and training and placing employees and for seting policies for personnel management)

government department (a department of government)

payroll; payroll department (the department that determines the amounts of wage or salary due to each employee)

security; security department (a department responsible for the security of the institution's property and workers)

Meaning:

The territorial and administrative division of some countries (such as France)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Hypernyms ("department" is a kind of...):

administrative district; administrative division; territorial division (a district defined for administrative purposes)

Domain region:

France; French Republic (a republic in western Europe; the largest country wholly in Europe)

Holonyms ("department" is a member of...):

country; land; state (the territory occupied by a nation)

Meaning:

A specialized sphere of knowledge

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Context examples:

baking is not my department / his work established a new department of literature

Hypernyms ("department" is a kind of...):

sector; sphere (a particular aspect of life or activity)