# department

> English word · Noun · IPA /dɪˈpɑːtm(ə)nt/ · frequency rank #583

## Definitions
1. A part, portion, or subdivision.
2. A distinct course of life, action, study, or the like.
3. A specified aspect or quality.
4. A subdivision of an organization.
5. A subdivision of an organization.
6. A territorial division; a district; especially, in France, one of the districts into which the country is divided for governmental purposes, similar to a county in the UK and in the USA. France is composed of 101 départements organized in 18 régions, each department is divided into arrondissements, in turn divided into cantons.
7. A military subdivision of a country
8. Act of departing; departure.

## Etymology
From Middle English departement (“ceasing, end”), from Middle French département. Later senses borrowed from Modern French département. Doublet of département.

## Easily confused with
- **departmental** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/department-vs-departmental)

## Common misspellings (16)
`ddepartment`, `deaprtment`, `deparmtent`, `deparrtment`, `departemnt`, `departmennt`, `departmentt`, `departmetn`, `departmment`, `departmnet`, `departtment`, `depatrment`, `deppartment`, `depratment`, `dpeartment`, `edpartment`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/department