deviné

Deviné is the past participle of the French verb deviner, which means to guess, deduce, or divine. In modern French, it functions both as a verb form in compound tenses (avec avoir) and as an adjective describing something that has been guessed or inferred rather than directly observed. For example, on peut dire: j'ai deviné la solution; une réponse devinée.

Etymology and sense evolution: deviner derives from Old French deviner, itself coming from Latin divinare, meaning to foretell or divine. Over time, the common use shifted from foretelling to guessing or inferring, while the participle retained its adjectival value to denote guesswork or provisional understanding.

Grammar and usage notes: As a verb, deviné appears with the auxiliary avoir in tenses such as j'ai/deviné, tu as deviné. As an adjective, it agrees in gender and number with the noun: un indice deviné (masc), une idée devinée (fem), des indices devinés (masc plural), des idées devinées (fem plural). The feminine forms are devinée and devinées. The term is widely used in everyday language, in educational contexts, puzzles, and storytelling to describe conclusions or answers reached by guessing or inference rather than direct evidence.

Related terms: The base verb deviner is closely linked to divination in its historical sense, though in contemporary French it primarily denotes guessing or deducing. Related concepts include déduire (to deduce) and interpréter (to interpret).

See also: deviner, divination, déduction.