pulsation
UK /pʌlˈseɪʃn̩/ · US /pəlˈseɪʃən/ noun
Forms pulsations
- noun The regular throbbing of the heart, an artery etc. in a living body; the pulse.
- noun Any rhythmic beating, throbbing etc.
- noun (botany) The rhythmic increase and decrease of size in naked zoospores and plasmodia.
- noun (now rare) Physical striking; a blow.
- noun A single beat, throb or vibration.
Synonyms
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English pulsacioun (“pulsing of the blood, throbbing”), borrowed from Middle French pulsacion (“(of bells) a striking (end of 14th c.); (of a diseased part of the body) a throbbing (1377); pulsation (1575)”), and its source, Latin pulsātiō (“(classical Latin) a beating or striking; (Medieval Latin, medical) rhythmical expansion and contraction (1363 in Chauliac)”). By surface analysis, pulsate + -ion.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A beating or throbbing, especially of the heart or of an artery, or in an inflamed part; a beat of the pulse.
- noun A single beat or throb of a series.
Etymology [L. pulsatio a beating or striking: cf. F. pulsation.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “pulsation”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details