Category:Divine

Di*vine", a. Etym: [Compar. Diviner (superl. Divinest.] Etym: [F. divin, L. divinus divine, divinely inspired, fr. divus, dius, belonging to a deity; akin to Gr. deus, God. See Deity.]

1. Of or belonging to God; as, divine perfections; the divine will. "The immensity of the divine nature." Paley.

2. Proceeding from God; as, divine judgments. "Divine protection." Bacon.

3. Appropriated to God, or celebrating his praise; religious; pious; holy; as, divine service; divine songs; divine worship.

4. Pertaining to, or proceeding from, a deity; partaking of the nature of a god or the gods. "The divine Apollo said." Shak.

5. Godlike; heavenly; excellent in the highest degree; supremely admirable; apparently above what is human. In this application, the word admits of comparison; as, the divinest mind. Sir J. Davies. "The divine Desdemona." Shak. A divine sentence is in the lips of the king. Prov. xvi. 10. But not to one in this benighted age Is that diviner inspiration given. Gray.

6. Presageful; foreboding; prescient. [Obs.] Yet oft his heart, divine of something ill, Misgave him. Milton.

7. Relating to divinity or theology. Church history and other divine learning. South.

Syn. -- Supernatural; superhuman; godlike; heavenly; celestial; pious; holy; sacred; preëminent.

divine Di*vine", n. Etym: [L. divinus a soothsayer, LL., a theologian. See Divine, a.]

1. One skilled in divinity; a theologian. "Poets were the first divines." Denham.

2. A minister of the gospel; a priest; a clergyman. The first divines of New England were surpassed by none in extensive erudition. J. Woodbridge.

divine Di*vine", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Divined; p. pr. & vb. n. Divining.] Etym: [L. divinare: cf. F. deviner. See Divination.]

1. To foresee or foreknow; to detect; to anticipate; to conjecture. A sagacity which divined the evil designs. Bancroft.

2. To foretell; to predict; to presage. Darest thou. . . divine his downfall Shak.

3. To render divine; to deify. [Obs.] Living on earth like angel new divined. Spenser.

Syn. -- To foretell; predict; presage; prophesy; prognosticate; forebode; guess; conjecture; surmise.

divine Di*vine", v. i.

1. To use or practice divination; to foretell by divination; to utter prognostications. The prophets thereof divine for money. Micah iii. 11.

2. To have or feel a presage or foreboding. Suggest but truth to my divining thoughts. Shak.

3. To conjecture or guess; as, to divine rightly.