different between department vs detachment

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French département.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /d??p??tm(?)nt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /d??p??tm?nt/
• Hyphenation: de?part?ment

Noun

department (plural departments)

1. A part, portion, or subdivision.
2. A distinct course of life, action, study, or the like.
3. A specified aspect or quality.

   The 2012 Boston Marathon was outstanding in the temperature department; runners endured temperatures of no less than 88 degrees Fahrenheit.

4. A subdivision of an organization.
   1. (often in proper names) One of the principal divisions of executive government

      the Treasury Department; the Department of Agriculture; police department

   2. (in a university) One of the divisions of instructions

      the physics department; the gender studies department

5. 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.
   • 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation: France from Louis XV to the 1715-99, Penguin 2003, p. 427:

     The departments were the bricks from which the edifice of the nation was to be constructed.

6. (historical) A military subdivision of a country

7. (obsolete) Act of departing; departure.
   • 1624, Henry Wotton, The Elements of Architecture

     sudden 'departments from one extreame to another

Synonyms

• (distinct course): province, specialty
• (division of executive government): ministry

Derived terms

• departmental
• departmentally
• Department of Redundancy Department
• department store
• fire department
• interdepartmental
• police department
• state department
• trouser department

Translations

See also

• province
• state

English

Etymology

From French détachement; synchronically analyzable as detach +? -ment.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d??tæt??m?nt/
• Hyphenation: de?tach?ment

Noun

detachment (countable and uncountable, plural detachments)

1. (uncountable) The action of detaching; separation.
2. (uncountable) The state of being detached or disconnected; insulation.
3. (uncountable) Indifference to the concerns of others; disregard; nonchalance; aloofness.
4. (uncountable) Absence of bias; impartiality; objectivity.
5. (uncountable, military) The separation of a military unit from the main body for a particular purpose or special mission.
6. (countable, military) The unit so dispatched.
7. (countable, military) A permanent unit organized for special duties.
8. (countable) Any smaller portion of a main body separately employed.

Translations