Afflatus

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -eɪtÉ™s

Origin

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.

Full definition of afflatus

Noun

1. A sudden rush of creative impulse or inspiration, often attributed to divine influence.
• 44 BCE, Marcus Tullius Cicero, De Natura Deorum, II.167:Nemo igitur vir magnus sine aliquo adflatu divino umquam fuit.
• No man was ever great without a touch of divine afflatus(Translation and quoted in 1949: H. L. Mencken, The Divine Afflatus)
2. A poet writing against his genius will be like a prophet without his afflatus. — Spence.
3. A breath or blast of wind.

Related terms

• flatulence