/dɪˈvæn/, /dɪˈvæn/, /ˈdaɪ.væn/
OriginBorrowed from French, from Ottoman Turkish دیوان (divan), from Classical Persian دیوان (dēwān), from Middle Persian d(p)ywʾn' (dēwān, “archive, collected writings”), from Sumerian 𒁾 (dub). Compare mattress, from Arabic (both of Middle Eastern origin, due to the local custom of lying on padding on floor being foreign to Europeans). Doublet of dewan, douane, and diwaniya.
- historicalA Muslim council of state, specifically that of viziers of the Ottoman Empire that discussed and recommended new laws and law changes to a higher authority (the sultan).
- The council chamber where this court is held; (by extension), any court of justice.
- archaicAny council or assembly.
“Startled at such an unaccountable event, they sat in close divan; and concluding that the case was in all respects unnatural and prodigious, desired that a messenger might be immediately dispatched fo”
“As I passed, I called at the mad-house; where I found Mac Fane and the scowling keeper in high divan.”
- A couch or sofa-like piece of furniture made of a mattress lying against the wall and on either the floor or an elevated structure.
“Eurydice pointed to the cupboard, and sat down on the low divan with folded hands, and looked at the floor.”
- datedAn establishment that serves cigars and coffee, and may offer other amenities such as books, newspapers, and chess.
“Near-synonym: smoking room”
“These are delightful places, and must be preferred to the cigar shops, if you can afford the extra for coffee, &c. Never sit in a divan, for as these establishments are in imitation of foreign customs”
“The cigar divans of the metropolis are essentially coffee-rooms, but they are of a distingué character, are more expensive in their charges, and more studied, elegant, and luxurious in their appointme”
- Hong-Kong, datedA drug or cigarette den.
“No person shall open, keep, manage or assist in the management of a divan where a dangerous drug is sold in the divan to be smoked, inhaled, ingested or injected therein; […]”
“During the operation, the Hong Kong Police Force conducted searches at about 1,700 locations, neutralising over 800 gambling dens, vice establishments, divans and unlicensed bars.”
- A collection of poems, especially one written by an author in Arabic or Persian.
Formsdivans(plural)