A.Word.A.Day --afflatus

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Today's Word

afflatus

PRONUNCIATION:

(uh-FLAY-tuhs)

MEANING:

noun: A creative impulse or inspiration.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin afflatus (a breathing on), from ad- (to) + flare (to blow). Ultimately from the Indo-European root bhle- (to blow), which also gave us blow, bladder, blather, blast, flavor, inflate, and flatulence. Earliest documented use: 1649.

USAGE:

“His stories ... are the perennial sources of his creative afflatus.”
Shafey Kidwai; The Past Never Died; The Hindu (Chennai, India); Feb 12, 2016.

See more usage examples of afflatus in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Students who acquire large debts putting themselves through school are unlikely to think about changing society. When you trap people in a system of debt, they can't afford the time to think. -Noam Chomsky, linguistics professor and political activist (b. 7 Dec 1928)

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