pulse

Pronunciation: /pʌls/

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B2 — Upper-Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun (electronics) a sharp transient wave in the normal electrical state (or a series of such transients)
  2. noun the rhythmic contraction and expansion of the arteries with each beat of the heart
  3. noun the rate at which the heart beats; usually measured to obtain a quick evaluation of a person's health

Etymology

From Late Middle English pulse, Middle English pous, pouse (“regular beat of arteries, pulse; heartbeat; place on the body where a pulse is detectable; beat (of a musical instrument); energy, vitality”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman puls, pous, pus, and Middle French pouls, poulz, pous [and other forms], Old French pous, pulz (“regular beat of arteries; place on the body where a pulse is detectable”) (modern French pouls), and from their etymon Latin pulsus (“beat, impulse, pulse, stroke; regular beat of arteries or the heart”), from pellō (“to drive, impel, propel, push; to banish, eject, expel; to set in motion; to strike”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to beat, strike; to drive; to push, thrust”)) + -sus (a variant of -tus (suffix forming action nouns from verbs)).

In classic literature

Synonyms

pulsation, pulsing, impulse

Semantic network

Broader (hypernyms)
wave

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