noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
/dəˈwɑːn/
/ˈdeɪwɑːn/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:D UW1 AH0 N
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A holder of any of various offices in various (usually Islamic) countries, usually some sort of councillor.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: historical
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
Borrowed from Hindi दीवान (dīvān), from Classical Persian دیوَان (dēwān), from Middle Persian dywʾn' (dēwān). Doublet of divan and douane.