pulso

Forms

pulso m (plural pulsos)^[1] Old Spanish also had polso, in the Libro de Apolonio.^[2][3][1] In Aragon polso is the temple of the head.^[4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish pulso, borrowed from Latin pulsus (“a push, blow; beat”), derived from pellō (“to push, drive”).^[6][7][8][9] García de Diego calls it a learned word.^[4] Latin medical writers used the word for the beat of the arteries.^[9][10]

The same Latin word is Catalan pols, Italian polso, Occitan pous and Old French pous.^[5][11]

The Latin verb goes back to *pelnō, a nasal present of Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to drive, strike”).^[1][12] From it come also the learned impulso, expulsar and compeler.^[7][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas dates the word from Berceo's Milagros de Nuestra Señora, where the Virgin tells a sick man: dizlo el tu pulso qe es bueno complido “your pulse says it is good and whole”.^[7][6][3] The Libro de Apolonio (c. 1240, in a 14th-century copy) has the form polso: a physician feels the polso of a woman thought dead to see if it beats,^[3] and the Libro de Alexandre boasts of knowing los pulsos and urine.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Covarrubias in 1611 recorded quedar sin pulsos for someone struck with fright or amazement, and tomar el pulso a un negocio for looking cautiously into an affair.^[13] The Diccionario de Autoridades gave the beat of the artery, the part of the wrist where it is felt, and the steadiness of the hand needed to fence or write.^[14] The 1817 Academy dictionary added the figurative “tact, care” and the phrase a pulso, of lifting something by the strength of the hand alone.^[15]

The current dictionary adds the temple of the head, a contest between two evenly matched parties, and in physics a short, intense variation of a magnitude.^[8] An arm-wrestling match is un pulso (echar un pulso).^[1][9] In Mexico and Central America it also means aim, and in Cuba and Colombia a bracelet.^[16][17]

Timeline

• 1220–1250 – Berceo's Milagros, the DCECH's first record.^[6][7]
• c. 1240 – the form polso in the Libro de Apolonio (14th-century copy).^[3]
• 1254–1260 – the Judizios de las estrellas, the first record without a later copy.^[3]
• 1548 – the first record from the Americas, in Santo Domingo.^[18]
• 1581 – the verb pulsar, from Latin pulsare, is first recorded.^[6][7]
• 1611 – Covarrubias records quedar sin pulsos.^[13]
• 1817 – the Academy's dictionary records a pulso.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. The pulse: the beat of the arteries felt in various parts of the body, especially the wrist: La enfermera le tomó el pulso.^[8][1]
2. The part of the wrist (muñeca) where the pulse is felt.^[8]
3. A steady hand: Para dibujar estas líneas hace falta buen pulso.^[8]
4. (regional) The temple (sien) of the head.^[8][19]
5. Tact, care in handling a matter.^[8]
6. A trial of strength between two evenly matched sides; an arm-wrestling match.^[8][1]
7. (physics) A short, intense variation in the value of a magnitude; a pulse.^[8]
8. (Mexico, Central America) Aim (puntería).^[16][1]
9. (Cuba, Colombia) A bracelet (pulsera).^[16][17]

Word family

• pulsera
• pulsudo
• pulsear

Related words

• impulso
• pulsación
• Latin pulsus

Usage notes

A pulso means by the strength of the hand and wrist alone, and figuratively by one's own effort;^[15][1] echar un pulso is to arm-wrestle or to challenge someone.^[15][1] Pulso is also the first-person singular present of pulsar.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. pulso
3. ^ a b c d e f Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. pulso
4. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 5275
5. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. pulsus
6. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. pulso
7. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 161
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. pulso
9. ^ a b c Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. pulso
10. ^ Segura Munguía, Santiago (2014), Lexicón etimológico y semántico del latín y de las voces actuales que proceden de raíces latinas o griegas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 557
11. ^ Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 6, 660
12. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
13. ^ a b Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 1237
14. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 431
15. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 715
16. ^ a b c Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. pulso
17. ^ a b Malaret, Augusto (1946), Diccionario de americanismos, 3rd ed., Buenos Aires: Emecé, p. 687
18. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. pulso
19. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. pulso