Department
Department , noun
[French département, from départir. See Depart, v. i.]
1.
Act of departing; departure. [Obsolete]
Sudden departments from one extreme to another.
2.
A part, portion, or subdivision.
3.
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.
4.
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.
5.
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.
A military subdivision of a country; as, the Department of the Potomac.