Meanings
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1
noun
the study of spirits or spiritual beings; in older philosophy, the study of the soul and God
The university's pneumatology course examined traditional arguments about the soul's immortality.
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2
noun
the branch of Christian theology concerned with the Holy Spirit
Her research in pneumatology compares accounts of the Holy Spirit across several traditions.
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3
noun
obsolete: the scientific study of air and gases
Early writers sometimes used pneumatology for experiments involving air pressure.
Thesaurus
Etymology
Formed from Greek pneuma ('breath, spirit') + -logy ('study'). The Greek noun could denote either moving air or spirit, which accounts for the word's theological, philosophical, and obsolete physical senses.