divan

¹ American  

[dih-van, -vahn, dahy-van] / dɪˈvæn, -ˈvɑn, ˈdaɪ væn /

noun

divans plural

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

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

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

4. any council, committee, or commission.

5. (in the Middle East)

   1. a council chamber, judgment hall, audience chamber, or bureau of state.

   2. a large building used for some official or public purpose, as a custom house.

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

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

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divan ² American  

[dih-van] / dɪˈvæn /

adjective

1. (especially of chicken or turkey breast) sliced and baked in a casserole with broccoli and hollandaise sauce.

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divan British  

/ dɪˈvæn /

noun

1. 1. a backless sofa or couch, designed to be set against a wall

   2. a bed resembling such a couch

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

3. 1. a Muslim law court, council chamber, or counting house

   2. a Muslim council of state

4. a collection of poems

5. (in Muslim law) an account book

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• divans
  plural

Etymology

Origin of divan¹

First recorded in 1580–90; from Ottoman Turkish dīvān “state council,” from Arabic dīwān, from Persian dīwān, originally dēvan “booklet” (whence “account book, archive, office, council, bench”)

Origin of divan²

First recorded in 1935–40; named after its place of origin, the Divan Parisienne Restaurant, in the Chatham Hotel, Manhattan, New York; see divine

Explanation

A divan is a piece of furniture you might have in your living room — it's a low sofa without a back, sort of like an upholstered bench. Famously, Sigmund Freud's patients reclined on a divan during psychoanalysis. The word divan comes from Turkish, and its meaning, "long, cushioned seat," evolved from "book of accounts" to "council chamber" and finally to a type of seating that's common in council chambers in the Middle East. Occasionally people mean a bed with box-springs when they talk about a divan, but it usually refers to a seat with cushions for leaning against.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

divan divans

The green-eyed 20-year-old Queen sat next to the Shah on a divan while he sat in his shirtsleeves telling the story of the flight.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 24, 2023

A parallel tradition of high poetry in Turkish called divan poetry also developed, which used the rhyme schemes and poetic meters of Persian poetry.

From Textbooks ● Dec. 14, 2022

Pluto was on break, resting on a divan.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 11, 2022

She shoots her videos in a basement studio crammed with a piano, French-style divan, print wall paper and photographs of muscled men and Chairman Mao.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2019

There were a leather divan and a number of easy chairs.

From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison

Platinum blond crabeater seals lounged on divans of drifting ice, basking in the sun.

From Scientific American ● Mar. 14, 2023

Ms Busby alleges the two divans which made up the base of the bed were not properly fastened together and two "gliders" - or feet - were missing from the end of the bed.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2018

And Offred muses that handmaid gatherings look like "paintings of harems, fat women lolling on divans, turbans on their heads, or velvet caps, being fanned with peacock tails, a eunuch in the background standing guard."

From The Verge ● Jun. 15, 2017

The veritable whirl of the narrative takes on a physical dimension, too, as actors pull other actors, seated on chairs and divans, in circles around the stage.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 21, 2016

Dozens of paintings of harems, fat women lolling on divans, turbans on their heads or velvet caps, being fanned with peacock tails, a eunuch in the background standing guard.

From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood