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Program vs Department - What's the difference?

program | department |

As nouns the difference between program and department

is that program is a set of structured activities while department is a part, portion, or subdivision.

As a verb program

is to enter a program or other instructions into (a computer or other electronic device) to instruct it to do a particular task.

program

English

Alternative forms

* programme (see usage notes)

Noun

(en noun)
  • A set of structured activities.
  • :
  • A leaflet listing information about a play, game or other activity.
  • :
  • A performance of a show or other broadcast on radio or television.
  • :
  • (lb) A software application, or a collection of software applications, designed to perform a specific task.
  • :
  • A particular mindset or method of doing things.
  • *Ellis in the movie Die Hard
  • *:Come on, John, why don’t you get with the program and tell him where the detonators are?
  • Usage notes

    * Usage of program'' and ''programme : ** US: program is the only spelling normally used. ** UK: programme'' is used in all cases except for computer code, in which case ''program'' is generally used. Older sources may use ''programme for computer code. ** Canada: both program'' and ''programme'' are used, but ''programme is more common. ** Australia: program'' is endorsed by the Australian government, but ''programme is most common. ** New Zealand: programme'' is favoured by New Zealand dictionaries, and is endorsed by government usage; ''program is rarely seen outside the computing meaning.

    Synonyms

    * (leaflet): playbill (for a play ) * (software application): application

    Derived terms

    * programme block * program counter * program evaluation and review technique * program guide * program music * program slicer * program trading

    Verb

    (programm)
  • To enter a program or other instructions into (a computer or other electronic device) to instruct it to do a particular task.
  • * He programmed the DVR to record his favorite show.
  • To develop (software) by writing program code.
  • I programmed a small game as a demonstration.
  • To put together the schedule of an event.
  • * Mary will program Tuesday’s festivities.
  • To cause to automatically behave in a particular way.
  • * The lab rat was programmed to press the lever when the bell rang.
  • department

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A part, portion, or subdivision.
  • A distinct course of life, action, study, or the like.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2014
  • , date=November 14 , author=Stephen Halliday , title=Scotland 1-0 Republic of Ireland: Maloney the hero , work=The Scotsman citation , page= , passage=Flair and invention were very much at a premium, suffocated by the relentless pace and often fractious nature of proceedings. The absence of James Morrison from the centre of Scotland’s midfield, the West Brom man ruled out on the morning of the game by illness, had already diminished the creative capacity of the home side in that department .}}
  • * (and other bibliographic particulars), (Thomas Babington Macaulay)
  • A subdivision of an organization.
  • # One of the principal divisions of executive government
  • the Treasury Department'''''; ''the '''Department''' of Agriculture''; ''police '''department
  • # One of the divisions of instructions
  • the physics department'''''; ''the gender studies '''department
  • A territorial division; a district; especially, in France, one of the districts composed of several arrondissements into which the country is divided for governmental purposes.
  • * 2002 , , The Great Nation: France from Louis XV to the 1715-99 , Penguin 2003, p. 427:
  • The departments were the bricks from which the edifice of the nation was to be constructed.
  • (label) A military subdivision of a country; as, the Department of the Potomac.
  • (label) Act of departing; departure.
  • * (and other bibliographic particulars), Wotton
  • sudden 'departments from one extreme to another

    Synonyms

    * (distinct course) province, specialty * (division of executive government) ministry

    Derived terms

    * departmental * departmentally

    See also

    * province * state