Meanings
Origin
- Ancient Greekνεῦμα“sign”
- Medieval Latinneuma
- Middle Frenchneume
- Middle Englishnewme
- Englishneume
From 15th c. Middle English newme, nevme, neme; from Middle French neume, in turn from Medieval Latin neuma or pneuma, either from Ancient Greek νεῦμα (neûma, “sign”), or else a corruption of πνεῦμα (pneûma, “breath”). In the latter case a doublet of pneuma.
More words from Middle English, Middle French, Medieval Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish neumi
- neumisign used in early musical notation
French neume
- neumesign used in early musical notation
German Neume
- Neumesign used in early musical notation
Hungarian neuma
- neumasign used in early musical notation
Italian neuma
- neumasign used in early musical notation
Polish neuma
- neumasign used in early musical notation
Portuguese neuma
- neumasign used in early musical notation
Russian не́вма
- не́вма (névma)sign used in early musical notation
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with neume
homeroomzoomwhomassumeresumebathroomcostumeboomdoombloomtombconsumegroomHumeloombroompresumeplumewombboardroomgloomfumechum
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
neume. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/neume
MLA
“neume.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/neume. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “neume,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/neume.
Source: neume on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.