afflatus

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Latin afflatus, originally adflatu (compare English flatulence (“digestive gas, fart”)), past participle of afflo (“to blow on”). In artistic sense, introduced by Cicero in De Natura Deorum (The Nature of the Gods) (44 BCE) II.167, as alternative to existing and similar inspiration (literally “sucking in air”), which already had a more general and metaphorical sense, to emphasize specifically the initial insight and restore literal overtones.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -eɪtəs

Noun

afflatus (plural afflatuses)

1. A sudden rush of creative impulse or inspiration, often attributed to divine influence.
   • 44 BCE, Marcus Tullius Cicero, De Natura Deorum, II.167:

     Nemo igitur vir magnus sine aliquo adflatu divino umquam fuit.

     No man was ever great without a touch of divine afflatus

     (Translation and quoted in 1949: H. L. Mencken, The Divine Afflatus)

   A poet writing against his genius will be like a prophet without his afflatus. — Spence.

2. A breath or blast of wind.

Related terms

• flatulence

Translations

sudden rush of creative impulse

• Bulgarian: вдъхновение (bg) (vdǎhnovenie)

• Spanish: inspiración (es) f

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Latin

Etymology

Perfect passive participle of afflō (“I blow, breathe (on or towards)”).

Participle

afflātus m (feminine afflāta, neuter afflātum); first/second declension

1. blown, breathed on, having been blown or breathed on

Inflection

Number	Singular				Plural
Case \ Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
nominative	afflātus	afflāta	afflātum		afflātī	afflātae	afflāta
genitive	afflātī	afflātae	afflātī		afflātōrum	afflātārum	afflātōrum
dative	afflātō	afflātae	afflātō		afflātīs	afflātīs	afflātīs
accusative	afflātum	afflātam	afflātum		afflātōs	afflātās	afflāta
ablative	afflātō	afflātā	afflātō		afflātīs	afflātīs	afflātīs
vocative	afflāte	afflāta	afflātum		afflātī	afflātae	afflāta