pneumatic：气动，是“气压传动与控制”（又称“气动技术”）的简称。
Pneumatics is a section of technology that deals with the study and application of pressurized gas to produce mechanical motion.（维基百科定义）
Pneumatic means "related to air or gas." If you've ever gone to a drive-through bank where you put your deposit in a container that gets shot through a tube into the bank, by a blast of air, then you've used a pneumatic tube.
(气动“pneumatic”意味着与“空气”或“气体”有关。 )
When you pronounce pneumatic, keep the "p" silent. It comes from the Latin root for breath, and in some cases people call spiritual things "pneumatic." In engineering, when something is described as pneumatic, it usually uses air pressure to move things around, like pneumatic tubes, or like the compressor in the whipped cream that pushes air into the liquid cream as it comes out of the can.
（当读“pneumatic”这个单词时，“p”不发音。它来自于拉丁语词根“breath”，有时，人们称精神层面的东西为“气”。在工程上，被称为“pneumatic”的东西，通常使用空气压力驱动动作，例如气管或将奶油从罐子里挤出来的压缩机等。）
“气动技术”是以压缩机为动力源，以压缩空气为工作介质，进行能量传递货信号传递的工程技术，是实现各种生产控制、自动控制的重要手段之一。（国内气动教材定义）
Advantages of pneumatics（气动技术的优点）
Simplicity of design and control—Machines are easily designed using standard cylinders and other components, and operate via simple on-off control.
（设计和控制简单——使用标准气缸和其他气动元件使得设计机器设备较为简单，通过开关控制易于操作。）
Reliability—Pneumatic systems generally have long operating lives and require little maintenance. Because gas is compressible, Equipment is less subject to shock damage. Gas absorbs excessive force, whereas fluid in hydraulics directly transfers force. Compressed gas can be stored, so machines still run for a while if electrical power is lost.
(可靠——气动系统一般都具有较长的使用寿命且只需很少量的维护。由于气体具有可压缩性，设备较少有冲击损伤问题。气体能够吸收过载力，而液压系统却只能直接传送作用力。压缩气体可被存储，因此，当断电时，机器仍然能够运行。)
Safety—There is a very low chance of fire compared to hydraulic oil. Machines are usually overload safe.
（安全——相比于液压而言，起火的几率要小得多。机器通常能够做得过载保护。）
气动“pneumatic”几种语言翻译如下：
ニューマチック（日语）
пневматический（俄语）
pneumatisch（德语）
pneumatique（法语）
압축 공기를 넣은（韩语）
πνευματικός（希腊语）
neumático（西班牙语）
pneumatico（意大利语）
氣動（中文繁体）
pneŭmatiko（世界语）
