départements

Noun

département (plural départements)

1. An administrative unit in various French-speaking countries, smaller than a région, similar to an English county.
   • On the other hand, the political–territorial pattern has been maintained but also redirected at the départemental level by the transformation of former ministerial départemental directorates into inter-ministerial units, under the supervision of the prefects of the département.2016, Philippe Bezes, “Challenges to French Public Administration: Mapping the Vitality of Its Knowledge Sources”, in Robert Elgie, Emiliano Grossman, Amy G[ale] Mazur, editors, The Oxford Handbook...