inspiration

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun The excitement of the mind or emotions to a high level of feeling or activity.
• noun The condition of being so excited.
• noun The quality of being so excited, as manifested in something.
• noun A person or thing that moves the intellect or emotions or prompts action or invention.
• noun Something, such as a sudden creative act or idea, that is inspired.
• noun Divine guidance or influence exerted directly on a human mind or soul.
• noun The act of drawing in, especially the inhalation of air into the lungs.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun The act of inspiring or breathing in; a drawing into the lungs, as of air; inhalation; the first movement in the act of respiration, followed by expiration.
• noun A breathing or infusion into the mind or soul; an awakening or creation of thought, purpose, or any mental condition, by some specific external influence; intellectual exaltation; an inexplicable cognition, as the knowledge of an axiom, according to a priori philosophers.
• noun In theology, an influence directly and immediately exerted by the Spirit of God upon the soul of man: in Christian theology, used especially with reference to the Old and New Testaments, regarded as written under the direct influence of God exercised upon the thoughts and feelings of the writers. ;
• noun The state or condition of being inspired; determination or purpose excited by a specific external influence; communicated bent of mind.
• noun That which is impressed by an inspiring influence; a thought or an emotion borne in upon one by an occult prompting or impulse.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun 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.
• noun 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
• noun (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.
• noun (Theol.) that kind of inspiration which excludes all defect in the utterance of the inspired message.
• noun (Theol.) that kind of inspiration which extends to the very words and forms of expression of the divine message.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun The act of inspiring or breathing in.
• noun breath
• noun physiology The drawing of air into the lungs, accomplished in mammals by elevation of the chest walls and flattening of the diaphragm.
• noun 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.
• noun 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.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun a sudden intuition as part of solving a problem
• noun (theology) a special influence of a divinity on the minds of human beings
• noun the act of inhaling; the drawing in of air (or other gases) as in breathing
• noun arousal of the mind to special unusual activity or creativity
• noun arousing to a particular emotion or action
• noun a product of your creative thinking and work