INSPIRATION • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Inspiration

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/ˌɪnspərˈeɪʃən/ Listen

noun

Inspiration n.

1.

The act of inspiring or breathing in; breath; specif. (Physiol.), the drawing of air into the lungs, accomplished in mammals by elevation of the chest walls and flattening of the diaphragm; the opposite of expiration.

2.

The act or power of exercising an elevating or stimulating influence upon the intellect or emotions; the result of such influence which quickens or stimulates; as, the inspiration of occasion, of art, etc. "Your father was ever virtuous, and holy men at their death have good inspirations."

3.

(Theol.) A supernatural divine influence on the prophets, apostles, or sacred writers, by which they were qualified to communicate moral or religious truth with authority; a supernatural influence which qualifies men to receive and communicate divine truth; also, the truth communicated. "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God." "The age which we now live in is not an age of inspiration and impulses."

Plenary inspiration (Theol.), that kind of inspiration which excludes all defect in the utterance of the inspired message.

Verbal inspiration (Theol.), that kind of inspiration which extends to the very words and forms of expression of the divine message.

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Etymology of 'Inspiration'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Inspiration" Quotes from Famous Books

... second semester. In the latter difficult subject she ranked among the very best students in a class of over three hundred members. She is very accurate, very earnest, and very quick to catch an idea. In fact she is nothing less than an inspiration to ...

— Notable Women Of Modern China • Margaret E. Burton

... like an inspiration came to the girl; and she interrupted; for she longed to penetrate this ...

— Come Rack! Come Rope! • Robert Hugh Benson

... expedition by design or chance entered Salt Lake Valley. At sight of the lake glistening in the sun, "Each of us," wrote one of the party, "without saying a word to the other, instinctively, as if by inspiration, raised our hats from our heads, and then, swinging our hats, shouted, 'Hosannah to God ...

— The Forty-Niners - A Chronicle of the California Trail and El Dorado • Stewart Edward White

... of fiction certain literary types which are an equal joy to the creative artist and to the student of human nature. There are certain malignant diseases which are an inspiration to the pathologist. And there are criminal cases which are a revelation to the lawyer: test cases which lead up to new discoveries and illustrate fundamental principles. What those classical types of Balzac or Dostoievski are to the critic, what ...

— German Problems and Personalities • Charles Sarolea

... do not think the composition of your poem "a sufficing reason" for not keeping your promise of a Christmas visit. Why not come? I will never disturb you in your moments of inspiration; and if you wish to collect any materials for the scenery?,[3] Hardwicke (where Mary was confined for several years) is not eight miles distant, and, independent of the interest you must take in it as her vindicator, is a most beautiful and venerable object ...

— The Works Of Lord Byron, Letters and Journals, Vol. 1 • Lord Byron, Edited by Rowland E. Prothero

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