pneumatique

English

Etymology

From French pneumatique.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /njuːmaˈtiːk/

Noun

pneumatique (plural pneumatiques)

1. (historical) The pneumatic postal system in Paris (abolished 1984), or a letter sent by this system.
   • 1928, Jean Rhys, Quartet, Penguin, published 2000, page 71:

     Then, full of imaginative and slightly sentimental resolution, he went out and posted the pneumatique.

   • 1978, Lawrence Durrell, Livia (Avignon Quintet), Faber & Faber, published 1992, page 412:

     Thus were great love-letters born – they would be sent by pneumatique and a helmeted motor cyclist would deliver them, like Mercury himself, within the hour.

French

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin pneumaticus, itself borrowed from Ancient Greek πνευματικός (pneumatikós, “relating to wind or air”), from πνεῦμα (pneûma, “wind, air, breath, spirit”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pnø.ma.tik/

Adjective

pneumatique (plural pneumatiques)

1. pneumatic

Derived terms

• matelas pneumatique

Noun

pneumatique m (plural pneumatiques)

1. (archaic) tyre (wheel covering)

   Synonym: (much more common) pneu

Further reading

• “pneumatique”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.