Numinosity

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quality of inspiring a strong spiritual or mystical feeling that suggests the presence of the divine
2. A characteristic that evokes awe and reverence through a sense of supernatural or sacred power
3. A property of something that fills an observer with wonder and a sense of the divine or holy

Etymology: "Numinosity" is a modern formation, built on the Latin "numen," meaning a divine will or presence, or the power that resided in a sacred place or object. The Latin root is itself tied to "nuere," to nod, so the earliest sense of divinity was tied to a gesture of assent, a nod that carried the force of a god's approval. The noun takes its shape from "numinous," the adjective, with the suffix "-osity" added to turn a quality into a noun. The adjective is the older and more familiar of the pair, and the noun simply names the quality of being numinous, the sense of something that feels charged with a sacred presence beyond ordinary explanation.

Synonyms: spirituality, mystique