department

/dɪˈpɑːtmənt/dih-PAHRT-muhnt

/dɪˈpɑɹtmənt/dih-PAHRT-muhnt

Meaninga parted-off section

Common meaning: a separate division of an organisation

dedown, away, off; undoing
parta part, shareLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1306 · scan
mentnoun ending: act or result

‘down, away, off’ + ‘a part, share’ → department

Journey through time

Latinpars, partis‘a part, share’
Englishdepartment‘a separate division of an organisation’ · today

de- also in: deter decamp decide deduce defame

part also in: part party partial particle partition

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin pars ‘a part, share’.

Did you know: our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry pars, p. 1306 · dictionary scan

Roots

pars, partis Latin “a part, share”

Related words

apart depart departure impart part partial particle partition party

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