different between district vs department

English

Etymology

From French district, from Medieval Latin districtus (“a district within which the lord may distrain, also jurisdiction”), from Latin districtus, past participle of distringere (“to draw asunder, compel, distrain”), from dis- (“apart”) +? stringere (“to draw tight, strain”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: d?s?tr?kt, IPA^(key): /?d?st??kt/
• Hyphenation: dis?trict

Noun

district (plural districts)

1. An administrative division of an area.

   the Soho district of London

2. An area or region marked by some distinguishing feature.

   the Lake District in Cumbria

3. (Britain) An administrative division of a county without the status of a borough.

   South Oxfordshire District Council

Derived terms

Related terms

• districtual

Translations

Verb

district (third-person singular simple present districts, present participle districting, simple past and past participle districted)

1. (transitive) To divide into administrative or other districts.

Derived terms

• redistrict

Translations

Adjective

district (comparative more district, superlative most district)

1. (obsolete) rigorous; stringent; harsh
   • 1563, John Foxe, Actes and Monuments

     punishing with the rod of district severity

Further reading

• district in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• district in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• district at OneLook Dictionary Search

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch district, from Middle French district, from Medieval Latin districtus (“a district within which the lord may distrain, also jurisdiction”), from Latin districtus, past participle of distring?, distringere (“draw asunder, compel, distrain”), from dis- (“apart”) + string?, stringere (“draw tight, strain”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d?s?tr?kt/
• Hyphenation: dis?trict
• Rhymes: -?kt

Noun

district n (plural districten, diminutive districtje n)

1. district

Derived terms

• kiesdistrict

Descendants

• Afrikaans: distrik
• ? Indonesian: distrik

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dis.t?ikt/, /dis.t?ik/

Noun

district m (plural districts)

1. district

Norman

Etymology

Borrowed from French district, from Medieval Latin districtus (“a district within which the lord may distrain, also jurisdiction”), from Latin districtus, past participle of distring?, distringere (“draw asunder, compel, distrain”), from dis- (“apart”) + string?, stringere (“draw tight, strain”).

Noun

district m (plural districts)

1. (Jersey) district

Romanian

Etymology

From French district

Noun

district n (plural districte)

1. district

Declension

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