diviner

English

Alternative forms

• devynour, divinour (obsolete, rare); divinor (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English divinour, from Latin dīvīnātor (“diviner; fortune-teller; soothsayer”), from dīvīnāre (“to foresee, to foretell”). Doublet of divinator. Equivalent to divine +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /dɪˈvaɪnə(ɹ)/
• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /dɪˈvaɪnɚ/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /dɪˈvɑɪnə(ɹ)/
• Rhymes: -aɪnə(ɹ)

Noun

diviner (plural diviners)

1. One who foretells the future.
   • 2020, Soilwork (lyrics and music), “Death Diviner”, in A Whisp of the Atlantic‎^[1]:

     Saw my future with a death diviner / My reflection in her eyes drew up / My twisted past / Oh, I came unmasked

2. One who divines or conjectures.
3. One who searches for underground objects or water using a divining rod.

Synonyms

• (one who foretells the future): foreteller, fortune-teller, prophet, seer, soothsayer
• (one who searches for underground water): water diviner, dowser

Derived terms

• divineress
• diviner's sage
• water diviner

 

Related terms

• see divine

Translations

one who foretells the future

• Bulgarian: гадател (bg) m (gadatel)
• Danish: spåmand c, seer (da) c
• German: Hellseher (de) m, Hellseherin (de) f, Wahrsager (de) m, Wahrsagerin (de) f
• Greek:

  Ancient: μάντις m (mántis)

• Kikuyu: mũragũri class 1
• Maasai: ɔl-aibóni
• Macedonian: јасно́видец m (jasnóvidec), га́талец m (gátalec)

one who searches for underground water

• Dutch: waterwichelaar m, wichelaar (nl) m
• Faroese: vatnvísari m
• German: Rutengänger (de) m, Rutengängerin (de) f, Wünschelrutengänger (de) m, Wünschelrutengängerin (de) f

Adjective

diviner

1. comparative form of divine: more divine

Anagrams

• Vidrine, drive in, drive-in

Latin

Verb

dīvīner

1. first-person singular present passive subjunctive of dīvīnō

Middle French

Etymology

Latin dīvīnō.

Verb

diviner

1. to divine

Conjugation

• Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.

Conjugation of diviner

infinitive	simple	diviner
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	divinant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		diviné
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	divine	divines	divine	divinons	divinez	divinent
	imperfect	divinois, divinoys	divinois, divinoys	divinoit, divinoyt	divinions, divinyons	diviniez, divinyez	divinoient, divinoyent
	past historic	divina	divinas	divina	divinasmes	divinastes	divinerent
	future	divinerai, divineray	divineras	divinera	divinerons	divinerez	divineront
	conditional	divinerois, divineroys	divinerois, divineroys	divineroit, divineroyt	divinerions, divineryons	divineriez, divineryez	divineroient, divineroyent
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que ie (i’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ilz, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	divine	divines	divine	divinons	divinez	divinent
	imperfect	divinasse	divinasses	divinast	divinassions	divinassiez	divinassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	divine	—	divinons	divinez	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The present participle was variable in gender and number until the 17th century (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], Une esthétique nouvelle: Honoré d'Urfé, correcteur de l'Astrée, p. 179). The French Academy would eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679.
2 The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with preposition en, as in Modern French, although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], op. cit., p. 180).

Related terms

• divination