Etymograph

English

department

Department comes from Middle English departement ‘ceasing, end’, and goes back to Middle French département.

  1. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600département1
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500departement1‘ceasing’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1624department1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English department
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1624, Henry Wotton, The Elements of Architecture: “For though Contraria iuxta ſe poſita magis illuceſcunt [opposites…”.

Lineage

  1. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600départementWiktionary, English department
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500departementWiktionary, English department‘ceasing’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1624departmentWiktionary, English department. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1624, Henry Wotton, The Elements of Architecture: “For though Contraria iuxta ſe poſita magis illuceſcunt [opposites…”

The story

Later senses borrowed from Modern French département.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

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Today it means

noun A part, portion, or subdivision.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “department”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Middle French département / department