Numen
Etymology
Latin "numen" meant a nod of the head, then the expressed will of a god, then divine presence itself. Romans sensed a numen in springs, groves, and thresholds. Rudolf Otto revived it in the twentieth century in "numinous," the awe felt before the holy.
noun · /NEW-men/
A felt divine presence or power residing in a place, object, or moment.
What it names
The sense that a place or thing is charged with presence — the "something there" that precedes any doctrine about it.
Example
Even the atheists in the group fell silent in the old cathedral, as if brushing against some numen they had no name for.
Related idea
The noun behind numinous: where numinous describes the feeling, numen names the presence that provokes it.
See also