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puls

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Etymology and origin of the Romanian word puls

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1703 More words from the 18th century
Borrowed from
Latin pulsus
Ultimate origin
Latin pellō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin pellō
Latin pulsus
French pouls
Romanian puls
Italian polso
Spanish pulso
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 pulsō ← pellō
Latin pultō ← pellō
Latin repellō ← pellō

Pronunciation

Forms

puls n (plural pulsuri)[1] Older forms were pols: „Polsul să încetinește” “the pulse slows down”, and pulz: „Numărul pulzului îl vom aduce la 75 într-un minut” “we shall bring the rate of the pulse to 75 a minute”.[2][3] Tiktin also records the Latin form pulsus in old texts.[4]

Etymology

It is a learned borrowing, borrowed from Latin pulsus (“a beating, stroke”), and it is also borrowed from French pouls; the DLR and MDA2 add German Puls and Italian polso as further models.[2][3][5] Tiktin takes it from New Latin, partly through other languages, while Wiktionary and MDN name French first.[4][1][6] Graur lists it among the Romanian neologisms from Latin.[7]

The Latin noun is the action noun of pellō (“to push, strike”).[8][7] Medical Latin used it for the beating of the veins and arteries, and the French word, first Old French pulz about 1155, continues this word, with the ⟨l⟩ restored in spelling in 1549.[9] It is related to impuls and pulsa.[10][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1703.[4] The DLR's first quotation counts it a sign of death when the pulse changes its beat: „Să socotește semn de moarte când pulsul ... să va schimba de bătut.”[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word stayed a medical term for the beat of the arteries, quoted in a veterinary calendar of 1814 for a horse whose pulse is strong and fast, and in Negulici's dictionary of 1848 as “the beating of the arteries”.[2][11] By extension it names the place where the beat is felt, usually the wrist.[3] Figurative phrases followed: a pipăi pulsul “to feel someone's pulse”, that is, to sound out their intentions, is in Costinescu's dictionary of 1870 with the French model tâter le pouls à quelqu'un;[12][5] a simți pulsul means to grasp a situation.[12][5] Marcu adds the sense “rhythm, course”.[6]

Timeline

  • 1703 – the first record.[4]
  • 1814 – the pulse of a sick horse in a calendar.[2]
  • 1829 – the form pulsul in a periodical.[2]
  • 1848 – Negulici's dictionary of neologisms.[11]
  • 1870 – a cerca pulsul cuiva “to sound someone out” in Costinescu.[12]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The pulse: the rhythmic dilation and contraction of the walls of the arteries, caused by the blood the heart pumps.[5][3][1]
  2. The place where this beat is felt, especially at the wrist.[3][13]
  3. Rhythm, course;[6] (figurative) a state of mind.[6]

Usage notes

A lua (cuiva) pulsul is to take someone's pulse;[5][3] a pipăi pulsul (cuiva) is to try to find out someone's intentions or mood;[5][3] a prinde or a simți pulsul is to judge a situation exactly.[5][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. puls
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 595
  4. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. puls
  5. ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 896
  6. ^ a b c d Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. puls
  7. ^ a b c Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică
  8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1074
  11. ^ a b Negulici, I. D. (1848), Vocabular romînesc de toate vorbele streine întroduse pînă acum în limba romînească și de toate cuvintele ce s-ar mai putea introduce încă, București, p. s.v. puls
  12. ^ a b c Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 378
  13. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. puls

Related etymologies

  • cap · also from French
  • dura · also from French
  • pur · also from French
  • pană · also from French
  • pat · also from French
  • masă · also from French
  • lac · also from French
  • primar · also from French
Cite this entry

“Puls.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/puls. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

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