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pulsatus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word pulsatus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
540–604 Gregory the Great More words from the 6th century
Ultimate origin
Latin pulsō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin pellō
Latin pulsō
French pousser
Latin pulsātus
English pulsate
From the same root
English repulsive ← pellō
Latin appellō ← pellō
Latin compellō ← pellō
Latin dēpellō ← pellō
Latin dispellō ← pellō
Latin expellō ← pellō
Latin impellō ← pellō
Latin interpellō ← pellō
Latin perpellō ← pellō
Latin prōpellō ← pellō
Latin pulsus ← pellō
Latin pultō ← pellō
Latin repellō ← pellō
French repousser ← pousser

Forms

pulsātus m (genitive pulsātūs); fourth declension[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin pulsō (“to beat, strike”).[3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first recorded use is in the undated poem Aegritudo Perdicae (line 169), of the vein that throbs against the doctor's fingers; the reading there depends on an emendation.[3][1]

Semantic evolution

Gregory the Great used it figuratively of a person's knocking by lamenting and doing penance.[3] In Medieval Latin it meant a blow or assault, the ringing of a bell, and an urgent request:[4] Niermeyer gives “prayer”,[5] and Du Cange quotes Fulcher of Chartres, moved to write by the urging of his companions.[6] The TLL sets aside one more passage as doubtful and perhaps interpolated.[3]

Timeline

  • 540–604 AD – Gregory the Great uses it of a penitent's pleading.[3][7]
  • 971 – A papal decree quoted by John of Glastonbury uses it for an urgent request.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A beating, stroke, throb.[1][2][3]
  2. (Late Latin, figurative) Knocking, pleading (in penance).[3]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A blow, assault.[4]
  4. (Medieval Latin) The ringing of a bell.[4]
  5. (Medieval Latin) An urgent request, entreaty; prayer.[4][5][6]

Usage notes

A separate pulsātus, -ī, the past participle of pulsō used as a noun, meant “the accused, defendant” in Late and Medieval Latin;[5][7] Köbler finds it in Ennodius (before 513 AD).[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  2. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  6. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Pulsatus.” Etymologically, 8 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/la/pulsatus. Accessed 8 Nov. 2026.

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