pneuma

Etymology

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

noun

  1. (music) A neume.
    With swaying arms they wail in pneuma over the recreant Bloom. 1922, James Joyce, Ulysses
  2. The spirit or soul.
    But bound to reach out and beyond this flesh. / Become Pneuma 2019, Maynard Keenan James (lyrics and music), “Pneuma”, in Fear Inoculum, performed by Tool
  3. (Gnosticism) One of three levels of a human being, the spirit, along with the body and soul.

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