Pulse | Etymology, Origin And Meaning Of Pulse By Etymonline

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Origin and history of pulse

pulse(n.1)

"a throb, a beat, a stroke," especially a measured, regular, or rhythmical beat, early 14c., from Old French pous, pulse (late 12c., Modern French pouls) and directly from Latin pulsus (in pulsus venarum "beating from the blood in the veins"), past participle of pellere "to push, drive" (from PIE root *pel- (5) "to thrust, strike, drive").

Extended usages, of feeling, life, opinion, etc., are attested from early 16c. The figurative use for "life, vitality, essential energy" is from 1530s.

also from early 14c.

pulse(n.2)

"peas, beans, lentils; the esculent seeds of any leguminous plant," late 13c., puls, from Old French pouls, pous, pols and directly from Latin puls "thick gruel, porridge, mush," which is suspected of being (perhaps via Etruscan), from Greek poltos "porridge" made from flour, or both the Greek and Latin words might be from the same source (compare pollen), which might be a loanword from a non-PIE Mediterranean language or an as-yet-unknown PIE root.

also from late 13c.

pulse(v.)

"to beat, throb," as the arteries or the heart, early 15c., pulsen, from pulse (n.1) or else from Latin pulsare "to beat, throb." Related: Pulsed; pulsing.

also from early 15c.

Entries linking to pulse

pollen(n.)

1760 as a botanical term for the fine, yellowish dust that is the fertilizing element of flowers (from Linnæus, 1751), earlier "fine flour" (1520s), from Latin pollen "mill dust; fine flour," which is related to polenta "peeled barley," and probably to Greek poltos "pap, porridge," and Sanskrit pálalam "ground seeds," but the ultimate origin is uncertain.

poultice(n.)

soft and usually warm mass of meal, etc., and herbs, applied to sores or inflammations on the body," a 17c. alteration of Middle English pultes (late 14c.), from Medieval Latin pultes, ultimately from Latin pultes, plural of puls "porridge" (see pulse (n.2)). The modern form in English predominated from mid-18c.

• pulsar
• pulseless
• pulser
• *pel-
• See All Related Words (6)

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Trends of pulse

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to explore

pulsate"to beat or throb (as the heart or a blood vessel); contract and dilate in alternation or rhythmically," 1741, a back-formation from pulsation, or else from Latin pulsatus, past participle of pulsare "to beat against, strike upon," frequentative of pellere (past participle pulsuspulsationearly 15c., pulsacioun, "pulsing of the blood, throbbing," from Latin pulsationem (nominative pulsatio) "a beating or striking," noun of action from past-participle stem of pulsare "to beat, strike, push against' hammer, keep hitting," figuratively "drive forth, disturb, disquietasphyxia1706, "stoppage of pulse, absence of pulse," from Modern Latin asphyxia "stopping of the pulse," from Greek asphyxia "stopping...of the pulse," from a- "not" (see a- (3)) + sphyzein "to throb, to beat violently," which is of unknown origin....oxygen in the blood" is from 1778, but it is a "curious infelicity of etymology" [OED] because victims of suffocation have a pulse...pingMeaning "short, high-pitched electronic pulse" is attested from 1943....from 1855; in computer sense is from at least 1981, based on earlier use of the word in reference to a submarine sonar pulse...veinc. 1300, from Old French veine "vein, artery, pulse" (12c.), from Latin vena "a blood vessel," also "a water course, a vein...have-notthe Have-not's," and she stuck to the former; and now-a-days, master Don Quixote, people are more inclined to feel the pulse...rateearly 15c., "estimated value or worth, proportional estimation according to some standard; monetary amount; a proportional part," from Old French rate "price, value" and directly from Medieval Latin rata (pars) "fixed (amount)," from Latin rata "fixed, settled," fem. past particitear"fluid drop from the eye," Old English tear "tear, drop, nectar, what is distilled in drops," from earlier teahor, tæhher, from Proto-Germanic *tahr-, *tagr- (source also of Old Norse, Old Frisian tar, Old High German zahar, German Zähre, Gothic tagr "tear"), from PIE *dakru- (somakeOld English macian "to give being to, give form or character to, bring into existence; construct, do, be the author of, produce; prepare, arrange, cause; behave, fare, transform," from West Germanic *makōjanan "to fashion, fit" (source also of Old Saxon makon, Old Frisian makia "

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‘cite’Page URL:https://www.etymonline.com/word/pulseCopyHTML Link:<a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/pulse">Etymology of pulse by etymonline</a>CopyAPA Style:Harper, D. (n.d.). Etymology of pulse. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved January 5, 2026, from https://www.etymonline.com/word/pulseCopyChicago Style:Harper Douglas, "Etymology of pulse," Online Etymology Dictionary, accessed January 5, 2026, https://www.etymonline.com/word/pulse.CopyMLA Style:Harper, Douglas. "Etymology of pulse." Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/pulse. Accessed 5 January, 2026.CopyIEEE Style:D. Harper. "Etymology of pulse." Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/word/pulse (accessed January 5, 2026).CopyRemove AdsAdvertisement

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TrendingDictionary entries near pulse

• pulpy
• pulque
• pulsar
• pulsate
• pulsation
• pulse
• pulseless
• pulser
• pulsive
• pulverise
• pulverization

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