devinaient

Devinaient is a French verb form. It is the third-person plural imperfect indicative of the verb deviner. The verb deviner means to guess, to divine, or to foresee. Therefore, "devinaient" translates to "they were guessing," "they were divining," or "they were foreseeing" in English.

The imperfect tense in French is used to describe ongoing or habitual actions in the past, as well as to set the scene or describe states of being in the past. When used with "devinaient," it suggests that a group of people were engaged in the act of guessing or foreseeing over a period of time in the past, or that this was a habitual action they performed. For example, "Les enfants devinaient la réponse" could mean "The children were guessing the answer" or "The children used to guess the answer."

The context in which "devinaient" is used will determine the precise nuance of its meaning. It can refer to simple guesswork, such as guessing a number, or it can imply a more mystical or intuitive act of foreseeing the future. The subject of the sentence would be a plural noun or pronoun referring to "they."