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di⋅van
1
[di-van, -vahn or, especially for 1, dahy-van] 
| 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 Oriental 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)
|
| 6. | a smoking room, as in connection with a tobacco shop. |
| 7. | a collection of poems, esp. a collection in Arabic or Persian of poems by one poet. |
1580–90; < Turk < Pers dīwān, orig. dēvan booklet (whence account book, office, council, bench)
di⋅van
2 [di-van] | sliced and baked in a casserole with broccoli and hollandaise sauce. |
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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| di·van (dĭ-vän', -vān') n.
[French, from Turkish, from Persian dīvān, place of assembly, roster, probably from Old Iranian *dipivahanam, document house : Old Persian dipī-, writing, document (from Akkadian ṭuppu, tablet, letter, from Sumerian dub) + Old Persian vahanam, house; see wes-1 in Indo-European roots.] |
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Divan
Di*van"\, n. [Per. d[=i]w[=a]n a book of many leaves, an account book, a collection of books, a senate, council: cf. Ar. daiw[=a]n, F. divan.]1. A book; esp., a collection of poems written by one author; as, the divan of Hafiz. [Persia] 2. In Turkey and other Oriental countries: A council of state; a royal court. Also used by the poets for a grand deliberative council or assembly. --Pope. 3. A chief officer of state. [India] 4. A saloon or hall where a council is held, in Oriental countries, the state reception room in places, and in the houses of the richer citizens. Cushions on the floor or on benches are ranged round the room. 5. A cushioned seat, or a large, low sofa or couch; especially, one fixed to its place, and not movable. 6. A coffee and smoking saloon. [Colloq.]Cite This Source
divan
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divan
in Islamic societies, a "register," or logbook, and later a "finance department," "government bureau," or "administration." The first divan appeared under the caliph 'Umar I (634-644) as a pensions list, recording free Arab warriors entitled to a share of the spoils of war. Out of rents and property taxes exacted from conquered farmers and landowners, hereditary pensions were assigned to warriors entered in the divan. Later the term came to signify a financial institution, and, by the time of the caliphate of Mu'awiyah (661-680), it meant a government bureau, e.g., the chancellery or the postal service. Iranians used the term divan until about the 19th century to mean the central government in general, while in Mughal India, from the time of Akbar (1556-1605), the term was chiefly associated with government finance, the chief finance minister being the divan, with provincial dawawin under him. In the Ottoman Empire the divan became the imperial chancery headed by the grand vizier, though a consultative assembly of senior officials summoned by Selim I in 1515 was also called a divan. The term was early extended to mean the audience chamber of important government officers, whose offices, furnished with mattresses and cushions along the walls, account for the extension of the meaning of divan to sofa. In modern Turkey a divan is an administrative unit in rural areas
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