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Inspiration

 - 6 dictionary results

in⋅spi⋅ra⋅tion

[in-spuh-rey-shuhn]
–noun
1. an inspiring or animating action or influence: I cannot write poetry without inspiration.
2. something inspired, as an idea.
3. a result of inspired activity.
4. a thing or person that inspires.
5. Theology.
a. a divine influence directly and immediately exerted upon the mind or soul.
b. the divine quality of the writings or words of a person so influenced.
6. the drawing of air into the lungs; inhalation.
7. the act of inspiring; quality or state of being inspired.

Origin:
1275–1325; ME inspiracio(u)n < LL inspīrātiōn- (s. of inspīrātiō). See inspire, -ation


1. stimulus, incitement.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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in·spi·ra·tion   (ĭn'spə-rā'shən)   
n.  
    1. Stimulation of the mind or emotions to a high level of feeling or activity.

    2. The condition of being so stimulated.

  1. An agency, such as a person or work of art, that moves the intellect or emotions or prompts action or invention.

  2. Something, such as a sudden creative act or idea, that is inspired.

  3. The quality of inspiring or exalting: a painting full of inspiration.

  4. Divine guidance or influence exerted directly on the mind and soul of humankind.

  5. The act of drawing in, especially the inhalation of air into the lungs.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

inspiration 
c.1303, "immediate influence of God or a god," especially that under which the holy books were written, from O.Fr. inspiration, from L.L. inspirationem (nom. inspiratio), from L. inspiratus, pp. of inspirare "inspire, inflame, blow into," from in-"in" + spirare "to breathe" (see spirit). Inspire in this sense is c.1340, from O.Fr. enspirer, from L. inspirare, a loan-transl. of Gk. pnein in the Bible. General sense of "influence or animate with an idea or purpose" is from 1390. Inspirational is 1839 as "influenced by inspiration;" 1884 as "tending to inspire."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: in·spi·ra·tion
Pronunciation: "in(t)-sp&-'rA-sh&n, -(")spir-'A-
Function: noun
: the drawing of air into the lungs
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

inspiration in·spi·ra·tion (ĭn'spə-rā'shən)
n.
The inhalation of air into the lungs.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Bible Dictionary

Inspiration

that extraordinary or supernatural divine influence vouchsafed to those who wrote the Holy Scriptures, rendering their writings infallible. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God" (R.V., "Every scripture inspired of God"), 2 Tim. 3:16. This is true of all the "sacred writings," not in the sense of their being works of genius or of supernatural insight, but as "theopneustic," i.e., "breathed into by God" in such a sense that the writers were supernaturally guided to express exactly what God intended them to express as a revelation of his mind and will. The testimony of the sacred writers themselves abundantly demonstrates this truth; and if they are infallible as teachers of doctrine, then the doctrine of plenary inspiration must be accepted. There are no errors in the Bible as it came from God, none have been proved to exist. Difficulties and phenomena we cannot explain are not errors. All these books of the Old and New Testaments are inspired. We do not say that they contain, but that they are, the Word of God. The gift of inspiration rendered the writers the organs of God, for the infallible communication of his mind and will, in the very manner and words in which it was originally given. As to the nature of inspiration we have no information. This only we know, it rendered the writers infallible. They were all equally inspired, and are all equally infallible. The inspiration of the sacred writers did not change their characters. They retained all their individual peculiarities as thinkers or writers. (See BIBLE ØT0000580; WORD OF GOD.)

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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