divan

noun

Etymology: Borrowed from French, from Ottoman Turkish دیوان (divan), from Classical Persian دیوان (dēwān), from Middle Persian d(p)ywʾn' (dēwān, “archive, collected writings”), from Sumerian 𒁾 (dub). Compare mattress, from Arabic (both of Middle Eastern origin, due to the local custom of lying on padding on floor being foreign to Europeans). Doublet of dewan, douane, and diwaniya.

1. A Muslim council of state, specifically that of viziers of the Ottoman Empire that discussed and recommended new laws and law changes to a higher authority (the sultan).
2. The council chamber where this court is held; (by extension), any court of justice.
3. Any council or assembly.

   “Startled at such an unaccountable event, they sat in close divan; and concluding that the case was in all respects unnatural and prodigious, desired that a messenger might be immediately dispatched for some male practitioner in the art of midwifery.”

   “As I passed, I called at the mad-house; where I found Mac Fane and the scowling keeper in high divan.”

4. A couch or sofa-like piece of furniture made of a mattress lying against the wall and on either the floor or an elevated structure.

   “Eurydice pointed to the cupboard, and sat down on the low divan with folded hands, and looked at the floor.”

5. An establishment that serves cigars and coffee, and may offer other amenities such as books, newspapers, and chess.

   “Near-synonym: smoking room”

   “These are delightful places, and must be preferred to the cigar shops, if you can afford the extra for coffee, &c. Never sit in a divan, for as these establishments are in imitation of foreign customs, so you should imitate the manners of foreigners, and be as unlike an Englishman as you can; you should therefore lie at full-length on the couches, or "loll" about in some graceful attitude. Should your time be entirely your own, you may remain in the divan the whole day, provided you play at chess; and should you be passionately fond of smoking, you can have smoke at breakfast—smoke at luncheon—smoke at dinner—smoke at tea—smoke at supper”

6. An establishment that serves cigars and coffee, and may offer other amenities such as books, newspapers, and chess.

   “No person shall open, keep, manage or assist in the management of a divan where a dangerous drug is sold in the divan to be smoked, inhaled, ingested or injected therein; […]”

   “During the operation, the Hong Kong Police Force conducted searches at about 1,700 locations, neutralising over 800 gambling dens, vice establishments, divans and unlicensed bars.”

7. A collection of poems, especially one written by an author in Arabic or Persian.