vi act of departing; departure.
2. department ·vi a part, portion, or subdivision.
3. department ·vi a military subdivision of a country; as, the department of the potomac.
4. department ·vi a distinct course of life, action, study, or the like; appointed sphere or walk; province.
5. department ·vi 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.
6. department ·vi 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 instruction; as, the medical department; the department of physics.