Monday, March 28, 2011

Afflatus

Afflatus \uh-FLAY-tuhs\ , noun;
1. A divine imparting of knowledge; inspiration

This word dates to the 1660's from Latin afflatus ("a breathing upon, blast") from the past participle of afflare ("to blow upon"), which is a combination of ad- + flare ("toward" + "to blow"). Latin flare is actually related to English blow: Their common ancestor is Proto-Indo-European *bhle- ("to swell, blow up").

Today's word and the first definition were both taken from Dictionary.com's 'Word of the Day' for Monday, March 28
Etymologies come from the Oxford English Dictionary and/or Etymonline.com

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