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afflatus love

afflatus

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A strong creative impulse, especially as a result of divine inspiration.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A blowing or breathing on, as of wind; a breath or blast of wind.
  • noun An impelling mental force acting from within; supernal impulse or power, as of prophecy or expression; religious, poetic, or oratorical inspiration.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A breath or blast of wind.
  • noun A divine impartation of knowledge; supernatural impulse; inspiration.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A sudden rush of creative impulse or inspiration, often attributed to divine influence.
  • noun A breath or blast of wind.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a strong creative impulse; divine inspiration

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin afflātus, from past participle of afflāre, to breathe on : ad-, ad- + flāre, to blow; see bhlē- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

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.

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Examples

  • So, over and over, when we looked - when I looked up words in the dictionary, see where Whitman was in 1855, there was always some surprising interesting accuracy or some area like the word afflatus or flatus.

    Robert Hass: On Whitman's 'Song Of Myself' 2010

  • The definition of "afflatus" is: 1. inspiration; an impelling mental force acting from within.

    “Like a bag full of genitals." Ann Althouse 2006

  • He was the sum of all ambition and the centre of all importance; he was held to have achieved in the loftiest sense, and probably because he deserved to; a kind of afflatus sat upon him.

    The Imperialist Sara Jeannette Duncan

  • The Hitchcock piece in particular is concerned less with artistic afflatus than with locating the master of suspense in the traditions of Englishness that even his most America-centred work sprang from.

    I Found it at the Movies: Reflections of a Cinephile by Philip French – review 2011

  • Europe won't allow such a debate at home but feels the moral afflatus to tax its own citizens to promote one side of the argument in America.

    Europe Hectors America 2011

  • Today's liberals, especially those who run the House, came of age amid the moral afflatus of the 1960s and are determined to remake America as a European entitlement state.

    Rosty and Reagan 2010

  • (Soundbite of laughter) GROSS: But afflatus of flatus actually means the miraculous communication of super natural knowledge, which kind of changes the whole feel of what hes saying there.

    Robert Hass: On Whitman's 'Song Of Myself' 2010

  • I dont know whether you say flatus or afflatus but it sounds like theres flatulence, flatulence surging through him.

    Robert Hass: On Whitman's 'Song Of Myself' 2010

  • Glenn Beck, of course, provides a divine afflatus.

    Stanley Kutler: Our Enabling Media 2010

  • Glenn Beck, of course, provides a divine afflatus.

    Stanley Kutler: Our Enabling Media 2010

Comments

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  • emily_morine commented on the word afflatus

    Far from seeming a good match to "a divine inspiration," this word reminds me of flatulence. Actually, maybe that's fitting. I'm not sure.

    December 7, 2006

  • ofravens commented on the word afflatus

    Simultaneously reminds me of fart noises and Daffy Duck.

    April 8, 2008

  • pterodactyl commented on the word afflatus

    Fart noises, yes indeed... and isn't there a cartoon duck that sells insurance, called the Aflac Duck?

    April 8, 2008

  • chained_bear commented on the word afflatus

    So maybe this is actually the fart of an Aflac Duck? *wondering if there needs to be a Specific Afflatus list*

    April 8, 2008

  • ofravens commented on the word afflatus

    the phrase "specific afflatus" just made my night. Thank you.

    April 9, 2008

  • chained_bear commented on the word afflatus

    You are more than welcome. :) Just wait till I start a Specific Afflatus list.

    April 9, 2008

  • reesetee commented on the word afflatus

    I thought skipvia already did that? *hoping against hope*

    April 10, 2008

  • chained_bear commented on the word afflatus

    I think he did. "Wherever you may be, let the wind blow free."

    That isn't what it's called, I just felt like saying it.

    April 10, 2008

  • skipvia commented on the word afflatus

    I think you're referring to Firmament-Clogging Rotteness. Not a general list, though--these are from a specific source, so to speak...

    April 10, 2008

  • hernesheir commented on the word afflatus

    US Railway Assn. Standard Cipher Code, 1906; telegraph shorthand for "Advise us what to do".

    January 19, 2013