Department

How to spell department

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce department

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does department mean?

1. nounA distinct division of a large organisation, business, or government with a specific area of responsibility.

Department in a sentence

• The marketing department launched the new campaign last week.

• She works in the human resources department at head office.

Where does department come from?

Language of origin: French

This word comes from the French departement, a noun built on the verb departir, meaning 'to divide' or 'to separate'. That verb traces back through Old French to the Latin elements de- ('from' or 'down') and partire ('to divide'), which itself rests on pars, partis, the Latin noun for a 'part' or 'share'. When English borrowed the word in the 1700s, it carried the sense of a separated portion of a larger whole, which is exactly how a department functions: a distinct division within an organisation, government, or store. The same partire root sits inside everyday relatives like 'part', 'partition', and 'depart'. Remembering that a department is simply a 'parted off' section helps fix the central 'part' in the middle of the spelling.

How the word is built

• de- (from, down)
• part (divide, share)
• -ment (noun-forming suffix)