Etymograph

English

pulsation

Pulsation comes from Middle English pulsacioun ‘pulsing of the blood, throbbing’, from Middle French pulsacion ‘(of bells) a striking’, and ultimately from Latin pulsō.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpulsō
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpulsātiō‘a beating or striking’
  3. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600pulsacion‘(of bells) a striking’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pulsacioun‘pulsing of the blood, throbbing’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1765–1769pulsation

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpulsō
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpulsātiō‘a beating or striking’
  3. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600pulsacion‘(of bells) a striking’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pulsacioun‘pulsing of the blood, throbbing’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1765–1769pulsation

Earliest quotation: 1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England: “By the Cornelian law, pulsation as well as verberation…”

Equivalent to pulsate + -ion

New Latin pulsō ‘(of an organ) to pulse, to emit a pulse’

English pulsate

Linked words

through Latin pulsō

push, pulse, 5 more

Today it means

noun The regular throbbing of the heart, an artery etc. in a living body; the pulse.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Latin pulsō / pulsation

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