pneumatic

Origin:
1650–60; < Latin pneumaticus < Greek pneumatikós pertaining to air, breath or wind, spiritual, equivalent to pneumat- (stem of pneûma; see pneuma) + -ikos -ic

Related forms

pneu·mat·i·cal·ly, adverb

pneu·ma·tic·i·ty

[noo-muh-tis-i-tee, nyoo-] , noun

non·pneu·mat·ic, adjective

non·pneu·mat·i·cal·ly, adverb

sem·i·pneu·mat·ic, adjective

un·pneu·mat·ic, adjective

un·pneu·mat·i·cal·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To pneumatic

Collins

World English Dictionary

pneumatic (njʊˈmætɪk)

—*adj*
1.	Compare hydraulic of or concerned with air, gases, or wind
2.	(of a machine or device) operated by compressed air or by a vacuum: a pneumatic drill; pneumatic brakes
3.	containing compressed air: a pneumatic tyre
4.	of or concerned with pneumatics
5.	theol
	a. of or relating to the soul or spirit
	b. of or relating to the Holy Ghost or other spiritual beings
6.	(of the bones of birds) containing air spaces which reduce their weight as an adaptation to flying
7.	informal (of a woman) well rounded, esp with a large bosom

—n
8.	short for pneumatic tyre

[C17: from Late Latin pneumaticus of air or wind, from Greek pneumatikos of air or breath, from pneuma]

pneu'matically

—*adv*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

pneumatic

1659, from L. pneumaticus "of the wind, belonging to the air," from Gk. pneumatikos, from pneuma (gen. pneumatos) "wind," also "breath," from pnein "to blow, to breathe," from PIE base *pneu- "to breathe," of imitative origin.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

pneumatic pneu·mat·ic (n&oomacr;-māt'ĭk, ny&oomacr;-)
adj.

Of or relating to air or other gases.
Relating to respiration.
Relating to a structure that is filled with air.

American Heritage

Science Dictionary

pneumatic

-māt'ĭk) Pronunciation Key

Relating to gases, especially air.
Filled with or operated by compressed air. Pneumatic machines often involve the transmission of force through air pressure in pipes or tubes. See also hydraulic.

Example sentences

The feedback comes from eight pneumatic cells embedded in the vest.

Then, using a syringe or a pneumatic spray, the surgeon squirts the cells on to

the wound.

One operates a pneumatic spring that easily adjusts the chair's tilt.

The basic idea is to make an over sized pneumatic potato gun.

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Matching Quote

"The learned professors have been at considerable pains in their attempts to make a distinction between tools and implements on the one hand, and machinery on the other. Nor have they arrived much of anywhere. The one is continually shading into the other. Here is an ordinary shovel used by a day labourer in a ditch; here is the same shovel with a somewhat thicker handle, containing a pneumatic attachment which is said to improve its digging power; here is a very much larger shovel with curved ends and steel teeth, hitched to an arm that is hitched to a steam engine, which can gobble up a cartload of dirt at one mouthful. Where does the tool stop and the machine begin? A grindstone is widely held to be a primitive tool; a turret lathe is widely held to be a machine. Both spin around. What is the essential difference? The employment of nonhuman power, steam, oil, gas, has been defined as the difference. Well and good. Then everything worked by human hands and legs is a tool only, and bicycles, typewriters, adding machines, sewing machines, foot lathes, clocks, hand-pumps—are not machines. Which is absurd. And what is one to do with treadmills for grinding corn, whose motive power is said by some to be the donkey, and by some the carrot in front of his nose?"

-Stuart Chase