Dhivehi (ދިވެހި, Dhivehi, [d̪iʋehi]), also known by its exonym Maldivian, is an Indo-Aryan language belonging to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family, primarily spoken by the Maldivian people native to the South Asian archipelagic state of the Maldives; as well as the neighbouring Minicoy Island within Lakshadweep, a union territory of India.

The Dhivehi language has four notable dialects. The standard dialect is that of the capital city of Malé. The greatest dialectal variation exists in the southern atolls of Huvadhu, Addu and Fuvahmulah. Each of these atolls has its own distinct dialect often thought to be interconnected with each other while being widely different from the dialect spoken in the northern atolls. The southern dialects are so distinct that those only speaking northern dialects cannot understand them.

The ethnic endonym for the language, Divehi, is occasionally found in English as Dhivehi (spelled according to the locally used Malé Latin for the romanisation of the Maldivian language), which is the official spelling as well as the common usage in the Maldives. Dhivehi is written in Thaana script.

Dhivehi is a descendant of Elu Prakrit and is closely related to Sinhala, but not mutually intelligible with it. Many languages have influenced the development of Dhivehi through the ages. They include Malayalam, Arabic, Hindustani, Persian, Tamil, French, Portuguese, and English. The English words atoll (a ring of coral islands or reefs) and dhoni (a vessel for inter-atoll navigation) are anglicised forms of the Maldivian words atoḷu and dōni. Before European colonization of the Southern Hemisphere, it was the southernmost Indo-European language.

The origin of the word "Divehi" is from older divu-vesi, meaning "island dwelling". Divu (from Sanskrit द्वीप dvīpa, 'island') later became ދޫ dū, which is currently present in many names of Maldivian islands, such as Hanimādū, Mīdū, and Dāndū. Vesi came from the Sanskrit suffix -वासिन् -vāsin and later became ވެހި vehi. ބަސް bas (from Sanskrit भाषा bhāṣā) means "language", so ދިވެހިބަސް dhivehi bas means "islanders' language".

Wilhelm Geiger, a German linguist who undertook the first research on Maldivian linguistics in the early 20th century, also called the language Divehi. An h was added to the name of the language— "Dhivehi"— in 1976, when the semi-official transliteration called Malé Latin was developed. Today the spelling with Dh has common and semi-official usage in the Maldives.

Dhivehi is an Indo-Aryan language closely related to the Sinhala language of Sri Lanka. Dhivehi represents the southernmost Indo-Aryan language, as well as the southernmost Indo-European language prior to European colonization. Dhivehi and Sinhalese together constitute a subgroup within the modern Indo-Aryan languages, called Insular Indo-Aryan. However, they are not mutually intelligible.

Maldivian and Sinhala are descended from the Elu Prakrit of ancient and medieval Sri Lanka. These Prakrits were originally derived from Old Indo-Aryan vernaculars related to Vedic Sanskrit.