How do you abbreviate department? The word department is most commonly abbreviated as dept. It is also sometimes abbreviated as dpt.
For example,
- Fire Dept.
- Dpt. of Public Works
- Dept. of Homeland Security
The plural form for the abbreviation of department is depts. or dpts.
For example,
- Depts. of Interior and Commerce
When to Use This Abbreviation
Since this abbreviation inherently deals with companies or governmental organizations, you will see it used a lot of business, government, or other organizational documents.
You might see it on the signs for various offices or on the letterhead of your local fire department.
As with other abbreviations, you won’t usually see it in general prose, but you will see it in newspaper headlines, titles, or business cards where space is a concern.
What Does Department Mean?
Definition of Department: Department is a noun and is defined as a division of a large business, government, college, nonprofit, etc., that deals with a specific subject.
- The customer service department handles all refunds.
- The English department just hired two new professors.
Outside Examples of Department
The company assumed that the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power would be its main customer, but DWP bowed out a year ago on the grounds that the project was environmentally destructive (the electricity’s high cost may have been a more telling reason). –LA Times
- Three Justice Department field offices agreed that the agency should pursue the investigation at the behest of the FBI, CNN reported Thursday. –Washington Examiner
Summary: Department Abbreviation
There are two common ways to abbreviate department. The most common is dept. The second most common is dpt. If you want to make either of these plural, you simply add an “s.”
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