/ · 1894 Brewer’s · D · Divan (Arabic and Persian, diwan)
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
means a register kept on a white table exactly similar to our board. Among the Orientals the word is applied to a council-chamber or court of justice; but in England we mean a coffee-house where smoking is the chief attraction.
· ·
Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.