divi ne, devine, devyn, devyne

& s. [Fr. div in divine, dev in =a diviner, from Lat. divinus, from the same root as div us and deus.] A. As adjective: I. Literally: 1. Pertaining to God or the Deity. "The immensity of the divine nature."-Paley. 2. Pertaining to any deity or deified person. 3. Partaking of the nature of a god; godlike. "No more was seen the human form divine ." Pope: Homer's Ody ey, x. 277. 4. Proceeding from God; as, Divine revelation or judgment. "You gave me once a diuine responsa ill, That I should be the flour of loue in Troye." Chaucer: Test. of Creseide. 5. Appropriated to or proper for the Deity; as, Divine service or worship. IMG:content-0279.png:[blocks in formation] "A diviner creed Is living in the life they lead." Long fellow: Tales of a Wayside Inn . (Interl.) *2. Pertaining to divinity or theology. "Church history and other divine learning."-South. 3. Pious, holy, religious. "I know him for a man divine and holy." IMG:content-0280.png:[blocks in formation] "Was this a man to be absolved by Christian divines?" -Macaulay: Hist. Eng . , ch. xxi. Divine right of kings : The claim of kings to hold their office by Divine appointment, and hence to govern absolutely without any interference on the part of their subjects, opposition to their will being considered in the light of a sin. The doc. trine was supported by Hobbes, Salmasius, Filmer, and others, and opposed by Milton, Algernon Sidney, . It is a tenet eminently pleasing to rulers of despotic proclivities, and just as displeasing to the ma of their subjects, many of whom are accustomed to describe it neatly and antithetically, in the words of Pope: "The Right Divine of Kings to govern wrong." Pope: Dunciad, iv. 188. For the differerence between divine and Godlike , see f GODLIKE; for that between divine and holy , see HOLY; and for that between divine and ecclesiastic , see ECCLESIASTIC.