pneuma

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek πνεῦμα (pneûma, “wind, breath, spirit”), from πνέω (pnéō, “I blow, breathe”). Doublet of neume.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnjuːmə/
• Rhymes: -uːmə

Noun

pneuma (plural pneumas or pneumata)

1. (music) A neume.
   • 1922, James Joyce, Ulysses:

     With swaying arms they wail in pneuma over the recreant Bloom.

2. The spirit or soul.
   • 2019, Maynard Keenan James (lyrics and music), “Pneuma”, in Fear Inoculum‎^[1], performed by Tool:

     But bound to reach out and beyond this flesh. / Become Pneuma

3. (Gnosticism) One of three levels of a human being, the spirit, along with the body and soul.

Derived terms

• pneumatic

Translations

spirit or soul

• Spanish: pneuma f

Spanish

Noun

pneuma m (plural pneumas)

1. Obsolete form of neuma.

Further reading

• “pneuma”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10