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Synonyms

pneuma

American  
[noo-muh, nyoo-] / ˈnu mə, ˈnju- /

noun

  1. the vital spirit; the soul.

  2. Theology. the Spirit of God; the Holy Ghost.


pneuma British  
/ ˈnjuːmə /

noun

  1. philosophy a person's vital spirit, soul, or creative energy Compare psyche

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of pneuma

1875–80; < Greek pneûma literally, breath, wind, akin to pneîn to blow, breathe

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

We leave the realm of biography and information, and we experience breath, pneuma, life itself.

From New York Times ● Jan. 26, 2022

A favorite word of his is pneuma: “the breath of life,” in Greek, which he first learned in one of his religion classes.

From New York Times ● Jan. 26, 2022

What further ballooned the President’s spirits amid the national conflict was the great pneuma of world solidarity.

From New York Times ● Aug. 11, 2015

From the lungs was absorbed the pneuma, or spiritus, which was conveyed to the heart by the pulmonary vessels—one to the right, and one to the left side.

From The Evolution of Modern Medicine A Series of Lectures Delivered at Yale University on the Silliman Foundation in April, 1913 by William Osler

Sō′ma, the trunk of an animal: the body as distinguished from the psyche or soul and the pneuma or spirit.—adjs.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various

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