- insufflation (n.)
- 1570s, in ecclesiastical use, "a breathing upon," to symbolize the influence of the Holy Ghost or to expel evil spirits, from Late Latin insufflationem (nominative insufflatio) "a blowing into," noun of action from past participle stem of insufflare, from in- "in, into" (see in- (2)) + sufflare "blow from below," from assimilated form of sub- "under, below" (see sub-) + flare "to blow" (see blow (v.1)). Medical sense of "a blowing of air into" (the lungs) is from 1821; that sense is found earlier in French.
