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afflatus

American  
[uh-fley-tuhs] / əˈfleɪ təs /

noun

  1. inspiration; an impelling mental force acting from within.

  2. divine communication of knowledge.

afflatus British  
/ əˈfleɪtəs /

noun

  1. an impulse of creative power or inspiration, esp in poetry, considered to be of divine origin (esp in the phrase divine afflatus )

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of afflatus

1655–65; < Latin afflātus a breathing on, equivalent to af- af- + flā- (stem of flāre to blow 2 ) + -tus suffix of v. action

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.