Etymologically
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divine

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /dɪˈvaɪn/[1]

Etymology

The adjective is Middle English devyne, borrowed from Old French devin, divin, from Latin dīvīnus (“of a god”),[2][3][4] from dīvus (“of a god, godlike”), related to deus (“god”) (see deity),[2][3][5] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *dyeu- (“to shine; sky, god”).[3] The noun and the verb come from the same Latin word, through Old French devin, soothsayer, and deviner, Latin dīvīnāre, to foretell.[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or pertaining to God or a god: about 1374 in the OED, about 1380, in Chaucer's House of Fame, in Barnhart.[6][2] The noun, a soothsayer, is from probably before 1300.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

A theologian or clergyman is a divine from about 1387, in Wycliffe.[2][3][4] The verb, to conjecture or guess, is from about 1378, in Piers Plowman, and to foretell by divination from the late 14th century.[2][3] The weakened sense, excellent or delightful, heavenly, developed from the late 15th century,[3][5][6] and of persons pre-eminently gifted from 1552.[6] The divine right of kings is from about 1600 and was invoked especially under the Stuarts.[3][5] To divine for water with a rod is a later use.[7][8]

Timeline

  • before 1300 – a soothsayer.[2]
  • c. 1374 – of God or a god.[6]
  • c. 1378 – to guess.[2]
  • c. 1387 – a theologian.[2]
  • late 15th century – excellent, heavenly.[3]
  • c. 1600 – divine right.[3]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Of, from or like God or a god.
  2. Devoted to God; sacred: divine worship.
  3. (informal) Delightful; excellent.

Verb

  1. To discover or guess by intuition or insight.
  2. To search for underground water or minerals with a divining rod.

Noun

  1. A clergyman or theologian.

Word family

  • divinely
  • divineness
  • diviner
  • divinable
  • semidivine
  • subdivine
  • superdivine
  • divinize
  • divination
  • divinity
  • deity
  • Jupiter

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins