| English Dictionary |
DIVINE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
| IPA (US): |  |
Dictionary entry overview: What does Divine mean?
• DIVINE (noun)
The noun DIVINE has 2 senses:
1. terms referring to the Judeo-Christian God
2. a clergyman or other person in religious orders
Familiarity information: DIVINE used as a noun is rare.
• DIVINE (adjective)
The adjective DIVINE has 6 senses:
1. emanating from God
2. resulting from divine providence
3. being or having the nature of a god
4. devoted to or in the service or worship of a deity
5. appropriate to or befitting a god
6. being of such surpassing excellence as to suggest inspiration by the gods
Familiarity information: DIVINE used as an adjective is common.
• DIVINE (verb)
The verb DIVINE has 2 senses:
1. perceive intuitively or through some inexplicable perceptive powers
2. search by divining, as if with a rod
Familiarity information: DIVINE used as a verb is rare.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
Terms referring to the Judeo-Christian God
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Synonyms:
Almighty; Creator; Divine; God Almighty; Godhead; Jehovah; Lord; Maker
Instance hypernyms:
God; Supreme Being (the supernatural being conceived as the perfect and omnipotent and omniscient originator and ruler of the universe; the object of worship in monotheistic religions)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "Divine"):
Blessed Trinity; Holy Trinity; Sacred Trinity; Trinity (the union of the Father and Son and Holy Ghost in one Godhead)
hypostasis; hypostasis of Christ (any of the three persons of the Godhead constituting the Trinity especially the person of Christ in which divine and human natures are united)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A clergyman or other person in religious orders
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Synonyms:
churchman; cleric; divine; ecclesiastic
Hypernyms ("divine" is a kind of...):
clergyman; man of the cloth; reverend (a member of the clergy and a spiritual leader of the Christian Church)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "divine"):
ordainer (a cleric who ordains; a cleric who admits someone to holy orders)
pardoner (a medieval cleric who raised money for the church by selling papal indulgences)
pluralist (a cleric who holds more than one benefice at a time)
Instance hyponyms:
a Kempis; Thomas a Kempis (German ecclesiastic (1380-1471))
Bruno; Saint Bruno; St. Bruno ((Roman Catholic Church) a French cleric (born in Germany) who founded the Carthusian order in 1084 (1032-1101))
Sense 1
Meaning:
Emanating from God
Synonyms:
divine; godly
Context example:
everything is black or white...satanic or godly
Similar:
heavenly (of or belonging to heaven or god)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Resulting from divine providence
Synonyms:
divine; providential
Context example:
a providential visitation
Similar:
heavenly (of or belonging to heaven or god)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Being or having the nature of a god
Synonyms:
divine; godlike
Context example:
'Tis wise to learn; 'tis God-like to create
Similar:
heavenly (of or belonging to heaven or god)
Derivation:
divinity (any supernatural being worshipped as controlling some part of the world or some aspect of life or who is the personification of a force)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Devoted to or in the service or worship of a deity
Context example:
divine liturgy
Similar:
sacred (concerned with religion or religious purposes)
Derivation:
divinity (the quality of being divine)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Appropriate to or befitting a god
Synonyms:
divine; godlike
Context example:
man must play God for he has acquired certain godlike powers
Similar:
superhuman (above or beyond the human or demanding more than human power or endurance)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Being of such surpassing excellence as to suggest inspiration by the gods
Synonyms:
Context example:
an inspired performance
Similar:
glorious (having or deserving or conferring glory)
| Conjugation: |
... he / she / it divines Past simple: divined
Past participle: divined
-ing form: divining
Sense 1
Meaning:
Perceive intuitively or through some inexplicable perceptive powers
Classified under:
Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling
Hypernyms (to "divine" is one way to...):
comprehend; perceive (to become aware of through the senses)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "divine"):
chiromance (divine by reading someone's palms)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE
Derivation:
divination (the art or gift of prophecy (or the pretense of prophecy) by supernatural means)
divination (a prediction uttered under divine inspiration)
divinatory (resembling or characteristic of a prophet or prophecy)
diviner (someone who claims to discover hidden knowledge with the aid of supernatural powers)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Search by divining, as if with a rod
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Context example:
He claimed he could divine underground water
Hypernyms (to "divine" is one way to...):
look for; search; seek (try to locate or discover, or try to establish the existence of)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "divine"):
dowse (use a divining rod in search of underground water or metal)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Derivation:
diviner (someone who claims to discover hidden knowledge with the aid of supernatural powers)
Context examples
They conversed with one another through the means of an interpreter, and sometimes with the interpretation of looks; and Safie sang to him the divine airs of her native country.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
She said nothing, but I am convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror in my hand and had seen what was behind me.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
This feeling of the divine startled him.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
“Oh, but you didn’t,” she hurried on, divining my answer.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
François was surprised, too, when they shot out in a tangle from the disrupted nest and he divined the cause of the trouble.
(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)
Fortunately, Venus will move into Pisces on January 13 to stay until February 7, a divine place for the planet of love to be for a Scorpio.
(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)
They at length agreed that the person should be chosen as pope who should be distinguished by some divine and miraculous token.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
Mrs. Chillip, he proceeded, in the calmest and slowest manner, quite electrified me, by pointing out that Mr. Murdstone sets up an image of himself, and calls it the Divine Nature.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Matt did that, it was his business; yet White Fang divined that it was his master's food he ate and that it was his master who thus fed him vicariously.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
For an instant my heart stood still, for I feared that he had in some way divined my presence.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
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