di|vine´ness

di|vine «duh VYN», adjective, noun, verb, -vined, -vin|ing.

–adj.

1. of God or a god: »

The Bible describes the creation of the world as a divine act. Accept the place the divine providence has found for you (Emerson). To err is human, to forgive divine (Alexander Pope).

2. given by or coming from God: »

The king believed that his power to rule was a divine right. Do you claim divine guidance for your system? (Manchester Guardian).

3. to or for God; sacred; holy: »

divine service, divine worship.

4. like God or a god; heavenly.

5. Informal, Figurative. excellent or delightful; unusually good or great: »

“What a divine hat!” she cried.

6. having to do with divinity or theology.

–n.

a clergyman who knows much about theology; minister; priest: »

It is a good divine that follows his own instructions (Shakespeare).

–v.t.

1. to foresee or foretell by inspiration, by magic, or by signs and omens; predict.

2. to find out without actually knowing; guess correctly: »

She divined what had happened to the missing cake from the boys' guilty looks.

3. to interpret; explain: »

For reasons that are difficult to divine (London Times).

4. Obsolete. to portend.

–v.i.

to practice divination; prophesy.

╂[< Old French divin, learned borrowing from Latin dīvīnus of a deity < dīvus deity]

–di|vine´ness, noun.