Divine
/dɪˈvaɪn/
adjectiveverbB2
Definition
As an adjective, divine describes something that belongs to a god or seems very holy, perfect, or beautiful. It can also mean something very good or wonderful. As a verb, divine means to find out or guess something, often by using intuition (a feeling or understanding without proof) or special insight.
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See It in Action
Related to a god or very holy and perfect (adjective)
- •The temple was a divine place full of peace.
- •She has a divine voice that sounds like an angel.
- •Many people believe the sunrise has a divine beauty.
Extremely good or wonderful (adjective)
- •This chocolate cake tastes divine!
- •We had a divine time at the party.
- •The sunset over the ocean was simply divine.
To discover or guess something by intuition or special knowledge (verb)
- •He tried to divine the meaning behind her words.
- •The fortune teller divined the future.
- •Scientists divine patterns from data to understand nature.
Make It Stick
- ✓Think of "divine" like "good" or "holy," but much stronger—something very special or perfect
- ✓Picture a bright light shining from the sky or a beautiful angel to imagine divine as something from a god or very pure
- ✓It's the feeling you get when you taste a delicious cake that feels almost too perfect to be real
- ✓Sounds like "die-VINE" → imagine a vine (plant) growing straight up to the sky, reaching something heavenly above
- ✓In stories, gods or angels are called divine because they are perfect and powerful beyond humans
- ✓NOT like "nice" (simple good), divine is much more special and often connected to religion or very high beauty
- ✓NOT like "guess" (random), when you divine, you try to find an answer carefully or with a special feeling, not just a wild guess
- ✓NOT like "predict" (using clear facts), divine can include feeling or insight beyond normal knowledge
Try Other Words
- •Sacred: connected to religion or very special (Use when focusing on religious or spiritual meaning)
- •Heavenly: extremely beautiful or good (Use when describing something wonderful or perfect)
- •Guess: to try to find an answer without certain proof (Use when talking about the verb meaning of divine in casual situations)
- •Predict: to say what will happen in the future using facts or knowledge (Use when more scientific or certain than "divine" as a verb)
Unboxing
- •Word parts: No clear prefix or suffix; root word "divine"
- •Etymology: From Latin "divinus" meaning "of a god" or "godlike"
- •Historical development: Used since Middle English for things related to gods or very good qualities; verb form came later for meaning "to discover by intuition"
- •Modern usage: Still used for religious or very beautiful things (adjective), and to mean guessing or discovering by insight (verb)
Reflect & Connect
•How do you decide if something is "divine" in your life? Is it about beauty, feelings, or beliefs?
•Can something be divine without being religious? How does that change its meaning?
Fill in the blanks
1.The artist's painting was called divine because it ___ great beauty and skill.
2.When people say something tastes divine, they mean it ___ very delicious or perfect.
3.To divine the answer, she used her ___ rather than just guessing.
4.The temple was considered divine because it was ___ to a god.
5.Unlike a simple guess, to divine something often involves ___ or special knowledge.
6.The singer's voice was so divine that the audience felt ___.
7.When you divine a future event, you try to find out what will happen without ___ proof.