divan
pronunciation
How to pronounce divan in British English:
UK [dɪˈvæn]
How to pronounce divan in American English:
US [ˈdaɪvæn]
-
- Noun:
- a long backless sofa (usually with pillows against a wall)
- a Muslim council of state
- a collection of Persian or Arabic poems (usually by one author)
- a Muslim council chamber or law court
Word Origin
- divan
- divan: [16] The word divan has a long and spectacularly variegated semantic history. It started out as Persian dēvān, which originally meant ‘small book’. This came to be used specifically for ‘account book’, and eventually for ‘accountant’s office’. From this its application broadened out to cover various official chambers and the bodies which occupied them, such as tax offices, customs collectors, courts, and councils of state.And finally it developed to ‘long seat’, of the sort which lined the walls of such Oriental chambers. The word carried these meanings with it via Arabic dīwān and Turkish divān into the European languages, and English acquired most of them as a package deal from French divan or Italian devano (it did not, however, include the ‘customs’ sense which, via the Turkish variant duwan, survives in French douane, Italian dogana, Spanish aduana, etc).The 19th-century sense ‘smoking lounge’ seems to be an exclusively European development.
- 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.
Example
- 1. But where are we going to put the divan ?
- 2. Lord henry stretched himself out on the divan and laughed .
- 3. He started again after have some coffee in a divan .
- 4. Mr. rolon is a fixture on radio and once hosted a tv show , ' terapia ( unica sesion ) , ' in which he conducted playful analytical sessions with celebrities reclining on his divan .
- 5. He will element in the luxury and jade los home spread redemptive , arranged element in los , grain aunt and arsenal , are going to plan and grain in accordance with related , which talks back los unsought , robbers know mountain will arsenal and grain in los selloff go , joab had stolen on the divan .