pneuma

Pneuma is a Greek word meaning wind, air, breath, or spirit. In ancient Greek usage, it signified the breath of life and by extension the life force animating beings. The term has influenced philosophy, medicine, and theology, and appears in many modern scientific terms through the combining form pneum- and the Latinized form pneuma.

In Aristotelian physiology, pneuma denotes a form of vital heat carried by the body's air or breath that drives movement and serves as the active constituent of the body's matter. For the Stoics, pneuma is a universal, rational principle that pervades the cosmos and organizes matter, often equated with the fire-like spirit animating nature.

In ancient medicine, pneuma was seen as a vital spirit produced in the heart or lungs and distributing through the body via the arteries, closely linked with respiration and health. Galenic theory connected pneuma to temperament and bodily function.

In Jewish and Christian Greek literature, pneuma translates both “breath” and “spirit,” and is used for the Spirit of God (pneuma hagion). In the New Testament, pneuma often means “spirit” in contrast to “soma” (flesh).

Today, pneuma survives primarily in linguistic and scholarly contexts as a root in terms such as pneum- and in the word pneumology (the study of breathing) and pneumatology (the study of spirit in theology). The term underscores the historical link between breath, life, and spirit across several intellectual traditions.