pneuma
English
Etymology
From Ancient Greek πνεῦμα (pneûma, “wind, breath, spirit”), from πνέω (pnéō, “I blow, breathe”). Doublet of neume.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈnjuːmə/
Noun
pneuma (plural pneumas or pneumata)
- (music) A neume.
- 1922, James Joyce, Ulysses:
- With swaying arms they wail in pneuma over the recreant Bloom.
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- The spirit or soul.
- 2019, Maynard Keenan James (lyrics and music), “Pneuma”, in Fear Inoculum, performed by Tool:
- But bound to reach out and beyond this flesh. / Become Pneuma
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- (Gnosticism) One of three levels of a human being, the spirit, along with the body and soul.
Derived terms
- pneumatic
Spanish
Noun
pneuma m (plural pneumas)
- Obsolete form of neuma.
Further reading
- “pneuma”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014