PNEUMA

Pneuma, "air in motion, breath, wind", is equivalent to aer (ἀήρ, "air") as the element from which all else originated in the material monism of Anaximenes . A quotation from Anaximenes observes that "just as our soul (psyche), being air (aer), holds us together, so do breath (pneuma) and air (aer) encompass the whole world." In this early usage, aer and pneuma are synonymous.