Definition of "numen" []

• A presiding divinity or spirit of a place. (noun)
• A spirit believed by animists to inhabit certain natural phenomena or objects. (noun)
• Creative energy; genius. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "For it was an attempt to supersede the ancient religious life of that State by _externa superstitio, prava religio_ -- _prava_, because _deorum numen praetenditur sceleribus_; and hence, as Livy expresses it in the admirable speech put into the mouth of the consul, the Roman gods themselves felt their _numen_ to be contaminated. ["
• "They supposed an art, a power, or a wisdom, which they called numen, in creatures the most destitute of understanding."
• "“numinous” from the Latin word numen, which denoted a supernatural nonpersonalized being."