subdepartment

noun

sub·​de·​part·​ment ˌsəb-di-ˈpärt-mənt 

variants or less commonly sub-department

plural subdepartments also sub-departments

: a department (as of an organization) that is part of a larger department

The Counter Terrorism Bureau [of the New York City Police Department] takes on a more focused role, functioning as the department's think tank on terrorism prevention and overseeing various subdepartments such as the NYPD/FBI Joint Terrorist Task Force.

—Brad Reagan

Examples of subdepartment in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

At Justice, he was assigned to the Bureau of Investigation, then a relatively poky subdepartment known to the public, if it was known at all, for sniffing out violations of the 1910 Mann Act. —Margaret Talbot, The New Yorker, 14 Nov. 2022

Word History

First Known Use

1798, in the meaning defined above