divan

[dih-van, -vahn or especially for 1, dahy-van]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR divan ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a sofa or couch, usually without arms or back, often usable as a bed.

a long, cushioned seat, usually without arms or back, placed against a wall, as in Asian countries.

a council of state in Turkey and other countries of the Middle East.

any council, committee, or commission.

(in the Middle East)

a council chamber, judgment hall, audience chamber, or bureau of state.
a large building used for some official or public purpose, as a custom house.

a smoking room, as in connection with a tobacco shop.

a collection of poems, especially a collection in Arabic or Persian of poems by one poet.

RELATED WORDS

lounge, sofa, davenport, seat

Origin of divan

1580–90; < Turkish < Persian dīwān, orig. dēvan booklet (whence account book, office, council, bench)

divan

[dih-van]

adjective (esp. of chicken or turkey breast)

sliced and baked in a casserole with broccoli and hollandaise sauce.

Origin of divan

of uncertain origin; perhaps a representation in E spelling of French divin divine

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for divan

Contemporary Examples of divan

I carried her to the divan, and went to look for him, but he was not in the house, and the servants were gone to bed.
Read ‘The King in Yellow,’ the ‘True Detective’ Reference That’s the Key to the Show
Robert W. Chambers
February 20, 2014
Marlon Brando yelled at the audience about dead children from a divan clad in a purple muumuu.
My Brush With the King of Pop
Gideon Yago
June 26, 2009

Historical Examples of divan

There on the divan she had cried, leaning her head against his sleeve.
The Incomplete Amorist
E. Nesbit
He lay face downward on the divan, in the dark, and he did "think it all over."
The Incomplete Amorist
E. Nesbit
"That is correct," I said, sinking back into the cushions of the divan.
City of Endless Night
Milo Hastings
On a divan the motion for rejection was carried by 178 to 136.
Punch or the London Charivari, Vol. 147, July 8, 1914
Various
Whereupon Khalid rises and sits on the divan near the Padre.
The Book of Khalid
Ameen Rihani

British Dictionary definitions for divan

divan

noun

a backless sofa or couch, designed to be set against a wall
a bed resembling such a couch

(esp formerly) a room for smoking and drinking, as in a coffee shop

a Muslim law court, council chamber, or counting house
a Muslim council of state

a collection of poems

(in Muslim law) an account book

Also called (for senses 2–5): diwan

Word Origin for divan

C16: from Turkish dīvān, from Persian dīwān

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for divan

1580s, "Oriental council of state," from Turkish divan, from Arabic diwan, from Persian devan "bundle of written sheets, small book, collection of poems" (as in the "Divan i-Hafiz"), related to debir "writer."

Sense evolved through "book of accounts," to "office of accounts," "custom house," "council chamber," then to "long, cushioned seat," such as are found along the walls in Middle Eastern council chambers (see couch). The sofa/couch sense was taken into English 1702; the "book of poems" sense in 1823.