Divan (furniture)

For other uses, see divan (disambiguation).

A divan (Turkish divan, originally from Persian devan^[1]) is a piece of couch-like sitting furniture; or in the UK, a box-spring based bed^[2].

Primarily, in the Middle East (especially the 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 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 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 18th century. It was fashionable, roughly from 1820 to 1850, wherever the romantic movement in literature penetrated. All the boudoirs of that generation were garnished with divans. They even spread to coffee-houses, which were sometimes known as divans or Turkish divans, and a cigar divan remains a familiar expression.

A common colloquialism in the state of Oklahoma is to refer to any form of couch or loveseat as a "Divan".

Source

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 
• EtymologyOnLine

References

1. ^ http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=divan&searchmode=none
2. ^ http://www.dreams.co.uk/divan-beds/divansets/categories/

See also

• Ottoman

This article about furniture or furnishing is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories: Furniture stubs Couches Words of Turkish origin Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая? Vincent van Gogh's medical condition Poulaphouca Look at other dictionaries: Divan — For the piece of furniture also known as divan, see Divan (furniture). For other uses, see Diwan (disambiguation). Audience in the Diwan i Khas granted to the French ambassador, the vicompte d Andrezel by Sultan Ahmed III, 10 October 1724, in a… …   Wikipedia divan — [di van′; ] for 1, also [ di vän′; ] for 2 & 3, also [ dī′van΄] n. [Turk dīwān < Pers, orig., bundle of written sheets, hence accounts, customhouse, council room, appropriate furniture] 1. in the Ottoman Empire, a) a council of state or the… …   English World dictionary furniture — I (New American Roget s College Thesaurus) Movable equipment for office, home, etc. See also light, music. Nouns 1. furniture, [home] furnishings, household effects, movables. 2. seat, throne, dais; [Adirondack, Bath, Barcelona, barber, basket,… …   English dictionary for students divan — I (New American Roget s College Thesaurus) n. sofa, couch; council. See support. II (Roget s IV) n. Syn. couch, sofa, settee, ottoman; see chair 1 , couch , furniture …   English dictionary for students Canapé (furniture) — Its shape is distinct from other sofas of the period, including the divan and chaise longue, but does include several forms. Frequently matching chairs were made to go with it. Precious hardwoods such as walnut, cherry and mahogany were often… …   Wikipedia Diwan — Dewan, Diwan or Divan may refer to: The Arabic/Persian word Dewan or Divan (دیوان), with a range of meanings: book The Diwan or Girgam, a record of the Kanem Empire Diwan (poetry), a collection of Persian, Arabic, or Urdu poetry hence, Diwani, a… …   Wikipedia Davenport (sofa) — Line art drawing of a davenport Davenport is the name a series of sofas made by the now defunct Massachusetts furniture manufacturer A. H. Davenport Company. Due to the popularity of the furniture at the time, the name Davenport has become a… …   Wikipedia South Asian arts — Literary, performing, and visual arts of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. Myths of the popular gods, Vishnu and Shiva, in the Puranas (ancient tales) and the Mahabharata and Ramayana epics, supply material for representational and… …   Universalium Couch — For other uses, see Couch (disambiguation). Comfortable seating …   Wikipedia bed — bedless, adj. bedlike, adj. /bed/, n., v., bedded, bedding. n. 1. a piece of furniture upon which or within which a person sleeps, rests, or stays when not well. 2. the mattress and bedclothes together with the bedstead of a bed. 3. the bedstead… …   Universalium 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”