numen
Americannoun
plural
numinanoun
-
(esp in ancient Roman religion) a deity or spirit presiding over a thing or place
-
a guiding principle, force, or spirit
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.
O quæ frondosæ per amœna cubilia silvæ Nympha volas, lucoque loquax spatiaris in alto, Annosi numen nemoris, saltusque verendi Effatum, cui sola placent postrema relatus!
From Poems of Henry Vaughan, Silurist, Volume II by Chambers, E. K. (Edmund Kerchever)
The only certain result that we can win from the study of these adjectival titles is that they represent a transition between animism and polytheism, a transition exactly expressed by the one word numen.
From The Religious Experience of the Roman People From the Earliest Times to the Age of Augustus by Fowler, W. Warde
Quod si ea ficta credimus licentia fabularum, Mopsum, Tiresiam, 5 Amphiaraum, Calchantem, Helenum, quos tamen augures ne ipsae quidem fabulae adscivissent, si res omnino repudiaret, ne domesticis quidem exemplis docti numen deorum conprobabimus?
From Helps to Latin Translation at Sight by Luce, Edmund
Ac sacram resonare viam mugitibus, ante Delubrum Rom�; colitur nam sanguine et ipsa More de�, nomenque loci, ceu numen, habetur.
From Walks in Rome by Hare, Augustus J. C.
"Non numen habes si sit Prudentia,—eh, O'Kelly?" said Conway.
From Sir Jasper Carew His Life and Experience by Lever, Charles James
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.
