divines

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of divine.

   A skilled reader divines the author's intent from a handful of subtle clues.

   The farmer divines underground springs by walking the land with a hazel rod.

   Note

   The -s form of a mostly transitive verb, so it usually has an object close behind: she divines the future, he divines their motives, the dowser divines water with a rod. That object signals which meaning is in play: prophecy, intuition, or searching underground. A subject in front marks it as the verb, not the plural for theologians and clergy.

2. 2
   noun

   Plural of divine.

   The seventeenth-century divines debated each clause of the new confession at length.

   Among the city's learned divines, only a few dared question the bishop openly.

   Note

   The plural that names people: theologians, or ministers and clergymen, and context usually settles which. The adjective divine has no plural, so divines is either this noun or the verb meaning "foretells". A determiner or number in front (the divines, two divines) marks the noun. When divine means God or a god, it is often capitalized, which sets that use apart from the learned or ordained divine.

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