pulse English · revision 10246

+ Pulse, a beat, is from Latin pulsus; pulse, peas and beans, is from Latin puls, porridge.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /pʌls/ ''(UK)''; /pʌls/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ {{homograph|1|beat}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1330|origins=fro pous|origins=la pulsus|origins=ine-pro *pel-}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English pous, later puls,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) [[bor|fro|pous|t=pulse]], Latinized pouls (modern French pouls),^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) and directly from Latin pulsus, beating (pulsus venārum, the beating of the veins),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002) from the past participle of pellere, to push, drive, beat,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from PIE [[ine-pro|*pel-|t=to thrust, strike, drive]] according to Watkins.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The rhythmical beating of the arteries: about 1330 in the OED, before 1338 in Mannyng's ''Chronicle'' in Barnhart.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The place where the pulse is felt, especially the wrist, is from about 1374,^(OED 1989) and each single beat from about 1430.^(OED 1989) Extended uses, of life, energy, feeling or opinion, are from the early 16th century,^(Etymonline) and ''to feel the pulse'' of something, to discover the sentiment, from about 1540.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) The verb, to throb, is from before 1425,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) also from Latin pulsāre, to beat, push.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) In physics and electronics a pulse is a brief sudden change in a quantity such as voltage.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1330 – the beating of the arteries.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1374 – the place of the pulse.^(OED 1989)

+ * before 1425 – to throb (verb).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1540 – to feel the pulse (figurative).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The regular throbbing of the [[artery|alt=arteries]] as the [[heart]] beats, felt especially at the wrist or neck.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A regular or rhythmic beat, or a single beat.^(AHD)

+ # ''(physics)'' A brief, sudden change in a normally constant quantity, such as a voltage or current.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The general feeling or opinion of a group: ''the pulse of the nation''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To beat or throb; to [[pulsate]].^(AHD)

+ # To send out in pulses.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[pulsate]]

+ * [[pulsar]]

+ * [[pulsation]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|legumes}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1297|origins=fro pols|origins=la puls}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English pols, [[bor|fro|pols|t=porridge]], pouls,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) and directly from Latin puls, pultis, a thick porridge of meal or pulse,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) probably, perhaps through Etruscan, from Greek [[m|grc|πόλτος|tr=póltos|t=porridge]];^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) the Greek and Latin may both come from a non-Indo-European Mediterranean source.^(Etymonline) Compare [[pollen]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Peas, beans and lentils: 1297, in the compound polscorn, in Barnhart; the late 13th century in Etymonline.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The form puls appears in 1388–89.^(Barnhart 1988) The plants that yield these seeds are also called pulse.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1297 – polscorn.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1388–89 – puls.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The edible seeds of pod-bearing plants such as peas, beans and [[lentil]]s.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A plant that yields such seeds.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[impulse]]

+ * [[repulse]]

+ * [[pulsative]]

+ * [[pulsator]]

+ * [[pulsatory]]

+ * [[compel]]

+ * [[propel]]

+ * [[poultice]]

+ * [[pollen]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Irish English, ''pulse of my heart'' is a term of endearment.^(Wright 1898) In some English dialects pulse meant beans and peas growing together.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}