divan1
[dih-van, -vahn or especially for 1, dahy-van]
- 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.
Show More
Origin of divan1
1580–90; < Turkish < Persian dīwān, orig. dēvan booklet (whence account book, office, council, bench)
divan2
[dih-van]
- sliced and baked in a casserole with broccoli and hollandaise sauce.
Show More
Origin of divan2
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for divan
Contemporary Examples
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 ShowRobert W. Chambers
February 20, 2014
Marlon Brando yelled at the audience about dead children from a divan clad in a purple muumuu.
Historical Examples
He lay face downward on the divan, in the dark, and he did "think it all over."
The Incomplete AmoristE. Nesbit
There on the divan she had cried, leaning her head against his sleeve.
The Incomplete AmoristE. Nesbit
"That is correct," I said, sinking back into the cushions of the divan.
City of Endless NightMilo Hastings
On a divan the motion for rejection was carried by 178 to 136.
Whereupon Khalid rises and sits on the divan near the Padre.
The Book of KhalidAmeen Rihani
divan
- 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
Show More
Also called (for senses 2–5): diwan
Word Origin
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
n.
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.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper