A
neume (; sometimes spelled
neum) is the basic element of Western and Eastern systems of
musical notation prior to the invention of five-line
staff notation. The word entered the English language in the
Middle English forms "newme", "nevme", "neme" in the 15th century, from the
Middle French "neume", in turn from either medieval Latin "pneuma" or "neuma," the former either from ancient Greek ("breath") or ("sign"), or else directly from Greek as a
corruption or an adaptation of the former.