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A divan is a type of Couch -like sitting furniture.

Originally, in the Orient (especially the Ottoman Empire ), a divan was a long seat formed of a mattress laid against the side of the room, upon the floor, or upon a raised structure or frame, with cushions against which to lean.

Divans received this name because they were generally found along the walls in Middle Eastern council chambers of a bureau called '' Divan '' or ''diwan'' (meaning a government council or office, from the bundles of papers they processed, and next their council chambers). The sofa/couch sense was taken into English in 1702 .

The divan in this sense has been commonly known in Europe certainly since about the middle of the 18th century. It was fashionable, roughly speaking, from 1820 to 1850 , wherever the romantic movement in literature penetrated. All the boudoirs of that generation were garnished with divans. They even spread to Coffee-house s, which were sometimes known as divans or Turkish divans, and a ''cigar divan'' remains a familiar expression.


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