département

American

[dey-par-tuh-mahn] / deɪ par təˈmɑ̃ /

noun

French.

plural

départements

department.

département British

/ departəmɑ̃ /

noun

(in France) a major subdivision or branch of the administration of the government

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of département

C18: from départir to divide; see _depart

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Trouvé’s district, Seine-Saint-Denis, north of the city center, is the Paris département most affected by the Games.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 24, 2024

The département of Lot in south-west France is one of the country's most rural.

From BBC • Apr. 9, 2023

Only 840,000 tourists visited the département in 2015.

From New York Times • Mar. 15, 2017

He is notoriously reluctant to venture into Seine-Saint-Denis, the "neuf trois" département.

From The Guardian • Aug. 4, 2010

We went for two days to "Pout," Casimir Périer's fine place in the département de l'Aube, where we had capital shooting.

From My First Years as a Frenchwoman, 1876-1879 by Waddington, Mary Alsop King

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023