divine Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun terms referring to the Judeo-Christian God
    Jehovah; Creator; God Almighty; Almighty; Lord; Maker; Godhead.
  2. noun a clergyman or other person in religious orders
    cleric; ecclesiastic; churchman.
  3. verb perceive intuitively or through some inexplicable perceptive powers
  4. verb search by divining, as if with a rod
    • He claimed he could divine underground water
  5. adjective satellite emanating from God
    godly.
    • divine judgment
    • divine guidance
    • everything is black or white...satanic or godly"-Saturday Review
  6. adjective satellite resulting from divine providence
    providential.
    • providential care
    • a providential visitation
  7. adjective satellite being or having the nature of a god; 'tis God-like to create"-J.G.Saxe
    godlike.
    • the custom of killing the divine king upon any serious failure of his...powers"-J.G.Frazier
    • the divine will
    • the divine capacity for love
    • 'Tis wise to learn
  8. adjective satellite devoted to or in the service or worship of a deity
    • divine worship
    • divine liturgy
  9. adjective satellite appropriate to or befitting a god
    godlike.
    • the divine strength of Achilles
    • a man of godlike sagacity
    • man must play God for he has acquired certain godlike powers"-R.H.Roveref
  10. adjective satellite being of such surpassing excellence as to suggest inspiration by the gods
    elysian; inspired.
    • her pies were simply divine
    • the divine Shakespeare
    • an elysian meal
    • an inspired performance

WordNet

Di*vine" adjective
Etymology
Compar. Diviner ; superl. Divinest.
F. divin, L. divinus divine, divinely inspired, fr. divus, dius, belonging to a deity; akin to Gr. , and L. deus, God. See Deity.
Definitions
  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.
Di*vine" noun
Etymology
L. divinus a soothsayer, LL., a theologian. See Divine, a.
Definitions
  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.
Di*vine" transitive verb
Etymology
L. divinare: cf. F. deviner. See Divination.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Divined ; present participle & verbal noun Divining
Definitions
  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.
Di*vine" intransitive verb
Definitions
  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.

Webster 1913