numen
Americannoun
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numina
plural
noun
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(esp in ancient Roman religion) a deity or spirit presiding over a thing or place
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a guiding principle, force, or spirit
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of numen
1620–30; < Latin nūmen a nod, command, divine will or power, divinity; akin to nūtāre to nod the head in commanding or assent
Vocabulary lists containing numen
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Nuere should therefore express a simple exercise of will-power, and numen is the being119 exercising it.
From The Religious Experience of the Roman People From the Earliest Times to the Age of Augustus by W. Warde Fowler
The worshipper consequently longed to find a "præsens numen" and the revelation of him in the cultus, and hoped to put himself in possession of the Deity by asceticism and mysterious rites.
From History of Dogma, Volume 1 (of 7) by Neil Buchanan
Great they knew was “Jupiter Best and Greatest” of conquering Rome; and great the numen of the Cæsar, to which everywhere in this rich and servile province shrines were rising.
From The Expositor's Bible: Ephesians by G. G. Findlay
The word thus gradually lost its original meaning; the nameless local genii became an expression for the universality of the divinum numen and were sometimes identified with the higher gods.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 5 "Gassendi, Pierre" to "Geocentric" by Various
No doubt later the Genius was accredited with powers over the fortune and misfortune of his possessor, but he never really developed anything like the independence of a god, and remained always rather a numen.
From The Religion of Ancient Rome by Cyril Bailey
The earliest Romans worshiped powerful spirits or divine forces, called numina, that they thought resided in everything around them.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2012
The numina montanum were sons of Gaea, Hazel’s least favorite goddess.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
Leo muttered some unflattering comments about numina, but he turned the wheel.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
The scene disappeared in the fog, but when the mountain god bellowed again, other numina answered in the distance, their voices echoing through the valleys.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
Standing at the summit was a mountain god—one of the numina montanum, Jason had called them.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
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.
