DEPARTMENT

noun Etymology: French département, from Old French, act of dividing, from departir Date: 1735 1. a distinct sphere ; province , a category consisting especially of a measurable activity or attribute , a functional or territorial division: as, a major administrative division of a government, a major territorial administrative subdivision, a division of a college or school giving instruction in a particular subject, a major division of a business, a section of a ~ store handling a particular kind of merchandise, a territorial subdivision made for the administration and training of military units, ~al adjective ~ally adverb