Word of the Day

Friday February 26, 2010

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afflatus [uh-FLAY-tuhs]

noun

1. A divine imparting of knowledge; inspiration; supernatural impulse.

• He was gifted, or perhaps cursed, with an extraordinarily sensitive nose. This organ had long been offended by the primitive state of the sanitary facilities, or privies, of the noble and grand in England. This particularly coarse fellow one day felt the divine afflatus descend upon him. And so, as quick as a flash, he invented the water closet.
  Charles McCabe, "A TALE OF THREE JOHNS", San Francisco Chronicle, Apr 20, 2008
• Back in the 1930s pulp-meister Jack Woodford produced several manuals on how to write popular fiction -- and 50 years later I read as many as I could find. This guide reminds me of those because it treats novel- writing as a matter of reasoned attention and technique rather than muse-inspired afflatus.
  Michael Dirda, "In which our dilettante-columnist finds holiday cheer in essays, memoirs and poetry", The Washington Post, Dec 1, 2002
• "Yes, she's a talented dear, though she hardly knows a needle from a crowbar, and will make herself one great blot some of these days, when the 'divine afflatus' descends upon her, I'm afraid."
  Louisa May Alcott (1832 - 1888) An American novelist. A Modern Cinderella

Origin of the Word

Afflatus, approximately 1660s, derives from Latin afflatus "a breathing upon, blast," from past participle of afflare "to blow upon," from ad- "to" + flare "to blow."