noun
divan
A collection of poems, especially in Persian or Arabic literature.
She reads a Persian divan for her literature class.
Etymology
The Persian word concerns a register or collected record. Literary use applies that collected form to an organized body of a poet’s work.
More examples
- This divan brings together the poet's early love poems.
- The library owns several divans in Arabic.
- His translation of the divan preserves the poems' rhyme.
Forms
divan · divans
Similar words
- anthology
- Often gathers works by several writers rather than one poet.
- collection
- A broader term for gathered works of any kind.