afflatus

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Contents

[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

From Latin afflatus, past participle of afflo (to blow on). Parallel to inspiration

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Noun

Singular
afflatus

Plural
afflatuses

afflatus (plural afflatuses)

  1. A sudden rush of creative impulse or inspiration, often attributed to divine influence.

[edit] Quotations

  • 44 B.C.: Marcus Tullius Cicero
    No man was ever great without a touch of divine afflatus (Nemo igitur vir magnus sine aliquo adflatu divino umquam fuit. De Natura Deorum II.167)
  • 1949: H. L. Mencken, The Divine Afflatus

[edit] Translations