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Created page with 'File:lighterstill.jpgright|frame ==Origin== Originally Persian, dēvān, now dīwān, in Arabic pronounced dīwān, diwān; in Turkish divān, whence in m...'
[[File:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:Divan.jpg|right|frame]]
==Origin==
Originally Persian, dēvān, now dīwān, in Arabic pronounced dīwān, diwān; in Turkish divān, whence in many European languages, Italian divano, Spanish divan, Portuguese divan, French divan. Originally, in early use, a brochure, or fascicle of [[written]] leaves or sheets, hence a [[collection]] of [[poems]], also a muster-roll or register (of [[soldiers]], [[persons]], [[Accounting|accounts]], [[taxes]], etc.); a [[military]] pay-book, an account-book; an office of accounts, a custom-house; a [[tribunal]] of [[revenue]] or of [[justice]]; a [[court]]; a [[council]] of [[state]], senate; a council-chamber, a (cushioned) bench. The East Indian form and use of the [[word]] is given under dewan n. Another European form, older than divan, and apparently directly < Arabic, is Italian dovana, doana, now dogana, French douane (in 15th cent. douwaine), custom-house
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16th_century 1586]
==Definitions==
*1a : the privy [[council]] of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman Empire Ottoman Empire]
*:b : [[council]]
*2: a council chamber
*3: a large couch usually without back or arms often designed for use as a bed
*4: a [[collection]] of [[poems]] in Persian or Arabic usually by one [[author]]
==Description==
A '''divan''' ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_language Turkish] ''divan'', originally from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_language ''Persian'' devan) is a piece of couch-like sitting furniture; or in the UK, a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Box-spring box-spring] based bed.
Primarily, in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East Middle East] (especially the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire Ottoman Empire]), a divan was a long seat formed of a mattress laid against the side of the room, upon the floor, or upon a raised [[structure]] or frame, with cushions to lean against.
Divans [[received]] this name because they were generally found along the walls in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East Middle Eastern] [[council]] chambers of a bureau called divan or diwan (from Persian, meaning a [[government]] [[council]] or office, from the bundles of papers they processed, and next their council chambers). Divans are a common feature of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liwan liwan], a long vaulted narrow room in [[Levantine]] [[homes]]. The sofa/couch sense was taken into [[English]] in 1702.
The divan in this sense has been commonly known in Europe since about the middle of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/18th_centurty 18th century]. It was [[fashionable]], roughly from 1820 to 1850, wherever the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romantic_Movement romantic movement] in [[literature]] penetrated. All the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boudoir boudoirs] of that [[generation]] were garnished with divans. They even spread to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee-house coffee-houses], which were sometimes known as divans or Turkish divans, and a cigar divan remains a familiar [[expression]].
[[Category: General Reference]]
==Origin==
Originally Persian, dēvān, now dīwān, in Arabic pronounced dīwān, diwān; in Turkish divān, whence in many European languages, Italian divano, Spanish divan, Portuguese divan, French divan. Originally, in early use, a brochure, or fascicle of [[written]] leaves or sheets, hence a [[collection]] of [[poems]], also a muster-roll or register (of [[soldiers]], [[persons]], [[Accounting|accounts]], [[taxes]], etc.); a [[military]] pay-book, an account-book; an office of accounts, a custom-house; a [[tribunal]] of [[revenue]] or of [[justice]]; a [[court]]; a [[council]] of [[state]], senate; a council-chamber, a (cushioned) bench. The East Indian form and use of the [[word]] is given under dewan n. Another European form, older than divan, and apparently directly < Arabic, is Italian dovana, doana, now dogana, French douane (in 15th cent. douwaine), custom-house
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16th_century 1586]
==Definitions==
*1a : the privy [[council]] of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman Empire Ottoman Empire]
*:b : [[council]]
*2: a council chamber
*3: a large couch usually without back or arms often designed for use as a bed
*4: a [[collection]] of [[poems]] in Persian or Arabic usually by one [[author]]
==Description==
A '''divan''' ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_language Turkish] ''divan'', originally from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_language ''Persian'' devan) is a piece of couch-like sitting furniture; or in the UK, a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Box-spring box-spring] based bed.
Primarily, in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East Middle East] (especially the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire Ottoman Empire]), a divan was a long seat formed of a mattress laid against the side of the room, upon the floor, or upon a raised [[structure]] or frame, with cushions to lean against.
Divans [[received]] this name because they were generally found along the walls in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East Middle Eastern] [[council]] chambers of a bureau called divan or diwan (from Persian, meaning a [[government]] [[council]] or office, from the bundles of papers they processed, and next their council chambers). Divans are a common feature of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liwan liwan], a long vaulted narrow room in [[Levantine]] [[homes]]. The sofa/couch sense was taken into [[English]] in 1702.
The divan in this sense has been commonly known in Europe since about the middle of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/18th_centurty 18th century]. It was [[fashionable]], roughly from 1820 to 1850, wherever the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romantic_Movement romantic movement] in [[literature]] penetrated. All the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boudoir boudoirs] of that [[generation]] were garnished with divans. They even spread to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee-house coffee-houses], which were sometimes known as divans or Turkish divans, and a cigar divan remains a familiar [[expression]].
[[Category: General Reference]]