Link Centre Dictionary

divan

di·van

UK/dɪˈvæn/ US/dɪˈvæn/ fairly common

noun

1.

a long backless sofa (usually with pillows against a wall)

2.

a Muslim council of state

Synonyms
3.

a collection of Persian or Arabic poems (usually by one author)

Synonyms
4.

Origin

Borrowed 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.

Phrases

  • divan bed

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.