Why is pneumatic spelled with a p

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free! Log in Sign Up. Save Word. Definition of pneumatic. Synonyms for pneumatic Synonyms curvaceous also curvacious , curvy , shapely Visit the Thesaurus for More. Examples of pneumatic in a Sentence Recent Examples on the Web But the Mini Leaper from DC Props uses electric and pneumatic parts to make the top half of a skeleton rocket from the crypt with scream-inducing swiftness.

First Known Use of pneumatic , in the meaning defined at sense 2. History and Etymology for pneumatic Latin pneumaticus , from Greek pneumatikos , from pneumat-, pneuma air, breath, spirit, from pnein to breathe — more at sneeze. Learn More About pneumatic. Time Traveler for pneumatic The first known use of pneumatic was in See more words from the same year. From the Editors at Merriam-Webster.

Phrases Related to pneumatic pneumatic drill. Style: MLA. No tubular- pneumatic action is entirely satisfactory when the distance between the keys and the organ is great. New Word List Word List.

Save This Word! See synonyms for pneumatic on Thesaurus. We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms.

Words nearby pneumatic pneum. What does pneumatic mean? Where does pneumatic come from? Did you know How is pneumatic used in real life? Try using pneumatic! I can barely hear myself think over the sound of the pneumatic drill. Words related to pneumatic aerial , atmospheric , blowy , breezy , drafty , exposed , fluttering , fresh , gaseous , gusty , light , lofty , out-of-doors , uncluttered , vaporous , ventilated , well-ventilated , windy.

How to use pneumatic in a sentence With pneumatic desks, you press down a lever to activate a gas cylinder that causes the desk to go up or down. Derived forms of pneumatic pneumatically , adverb. Word Origin for pneumatic C from Late Latin pneumaticus of air or wind, from Greek pneumatikos of air or breath, from pneuma. Of or relating to air or other gases. Silent 'e' eg, tot vs tote is a bit more of a complicated story.

In Chaucer's day, the 'e' was pronounced. So, in a word like 'bite' not a real old-English example, but simpler for exposition the 'e' at the end would have meant that the word was pronounced bi. In the Germanic language, open syllables had long vowels, so 'bit' would be short 'i', 'bite' would be long. Nowadays, the distinction between long and short vowels in English is actually more than just length because of the Great Vowel Shift.

So, whereas before, 'bite' would have been something like 'beetuh', the Great Vowel Shift and the eventual elision of the final 'e' makes its modern pronunciation 'byt' — silent 'e'. Another process occurs when we borrow words from other languages.

The initial consonant sounds in these words are not used in English, at least to start words. English ends words with those clusters, though: 'hats', 'chops'. The initial 'p' in 'psychology' and 'pterodactyl', and other words from Greek has become silent in English. Some English speakers — not all — simplify the word 'tsunami' by not pronouncing the initial 't', so that it fits in with the phonological rules of English.