מִשְׂרָד
Those who have made aliyah (immigration to Israel) and have had adventures in the bureaucratic jungle, certainly know the word for government ministry – מִשְׂרָד
– as in:
מִשְׂרַד הָרִשּׁוּי
The Ministry of Licensing
מִשְׂרַד הָעֲלִיָּה וְהַקְּלִיטָה
The Ministry of Immigration and Absorption
משרד also refers to the conventional office. For example:
הִגַּעְתִּי מְאֻחָר הַיּוֹם לַמִּשְׂרָד.
I arrived late today at the office.
The founding father of Modern Hebrew, Eliezer Ben Yehuda, created this modern-day term by invoking the root שׂ.ר.ד (s.r.d), which appears in Biblical Hebrew in the context of the priests who wore בִּגְדֵּי שְׂרָד
– official service clothing.