| Library / English Dictionary |
DEPARTMENT
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A specialized sphere of knowledge
Example:
his work established a new department of literature
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("department" is a kind of...):
sector; sphere (a particular aspect of life or activity)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A specialized division of a large organization
Example:
she got a job in the historical section of the Treasury
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects
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 setting 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)
Derivation:
departmental (of or relating to a department)
Sense 3
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)
Derivation:
departmental (of or relating to a department)
Context examples:
This study included 439 adults who experienced head injury and were treated in the emergency department.
(Microbleeds may worsen outcome after head injury, National Institutes of Health)
He is a research professor in the UW’s civil and environmental engineering department
(Common Houseplant with Genetic Modification Can Remove Polluted Air, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
Potts added that the shorter time of onset for the VCD compared to that of lidocaine could be a distinct advantage in a busy emergency department setting.
(Better IV Insertion Device, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
Groupings or subdivisions of an organization, such as departments, may also be considered as organizations where there is a need to identify them.
(Health Care Organization, NCI Thesaurus)
Her department appears to be, to clean everything over and over again.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
EXAMPLE(S): emergency department, surgical suite, patient room
(Place Type Code, NCI Thesaurus/BRIDG)
EXAMPLE(S): The relationship between an organization and its legal representative, the whole/part relationship between an organization and its sub organizations (e.g. departments, divisions).
(Organization Relationship, NCI Thesaurus/BRIDG)
But it's up to you to follow me when you come into my department.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
EXAMPLE(S): part, department, center, legal representative.
(Organization Relationship Type Code, NCI Thesaurus/BRIDG)
Day and night she brooded over them with tireless devotion and anxiety, leaving John to the tender mercies of the help, for an Irish lady now presided over the kitchen department.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
