Afflation

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The process of inspiring or influencing through breath or divine guidance is often connected to the movement of air in both literal and symbolic contexts
2. Breathing or inhaling can signify a unique form of enlightenment or inspiration, linking both the physical and metaphorical aspects of air flow
3. The act of sending air out or inhaling breath ; a spiritual influence thought to be imparted through breath or air movement

Etymology: Afflation is a word that rarely travels far from the page, but its pieces are plain to see. It comes from the Latin "afflatus," the past participle of "afflare," meaning "to blow or breathe on." That verb is built from "ad," meaning "to" or "toward," and "flare," meaning "to blow," so the word's literal sense is something like "breathed upon." The Latin root did not stay with ordinary breath for long. Roman writers used "afflatus" for a divine inspiration, the sense of a god breathing into a person, and English later borrowed that idea along with the word. The noun in English keeps the physical meaning, the simple act of breathing, while the figurative sense of an inspiring breath lingers in its Latin ancestor.