Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “divan” come from?

Divan comes from Ottoman Turkish دیوان, from Persian دیوان, from Middle Persian dywʾn', from Old Persian dipi-vahanam, ultimately from Sumerian 𒁾 and Akkadian 𒁾.

divan (English): A Muslim council of state, specifically that of...

Definitions

  1. A Muslim council of state, specifically that of...

Ancestry of “divan”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1FrenchdivanAny type of undistinguished couch; A divan in...
2Ottoman Turkishدیوانdivan; court, tribunal
3Persianدیوانdivan; bureau; court, tribunal
4Middle Persiandywʾn'archive; collected writings
5Middle Persiandiβi-vān—
6Middle Persiandipi-vān-relating to documents
7Old Persiandipi-vahanamdocument house
8Old Persian𐎮𐎡𐎱𐎡inscription; document
9Elamite𒁾—
10Akkadian𒁾tablet; document; letter
11Sumerian𒁾tablet; cylinder seal, sealed tablet
Every word from Sumerian 𒁾 →