neuma

Neuma, commonly transliterated pneuma from Greek, is a term meaning wind, breath, or spirit. In classical Greek thought it denoted a life-sustaining principle and a subtle form of air believed to animate living beings. Etymologically linked to breathing and the movement of air, pneuma came to cover both physiological and spiritual notions.

In ancient philosophy and medicine, pneuma was used to describe a vital force that originates in the body and sustains life and movement. In Hippocratic and later Galenic medical theory, pneuma was regarded as a guiding principle carried by the blood and nerves, linked to respiration and the body's faculties. In Stoic and other Hellenistic systems, pneuma was also associated with the active, rational principle that orders the cosmos and animates human thought. Some writers distinguished different kinds or grades of pneuma, ranging from the basic life force to a higher, organizing principle.

In Christian theology, pneuma hagion (the Holy Spirit) is the dominant usage, with pneuma denoting a divine presence or influence. The term also appears in Scripture to mean spirit in humans and in other spiritual contexts, reflecting the broader Greek sense of breath as life and consciousness. Through patristic writers and medieval scholars, pneuma remained a central motif for discussing how breath, soul, and divine power interrelate.

Today, pneuma is studied as both a linguistic and philosophical concept, illustrating how ancient Greek thinkers linked physical breath, life processes, and spiritual forces. It remains a key reference in discussions of ancient physiology, metaphysics, and theology.