Meanings
nounpalpitation (countable and uncountable, plural palpitations)
plural palpitations
- countableuncountableAn abnormal beating of the heart that may be perceived by the patient, a result of excitement, exertion, or illness.
Sometimes my pulse beat so quickly and hardly, that I felt the palpitation of every artery; at others, I nearly sank to the ground through languor and extreme weakness.
1816 June – 1817 April/May (date written), [Mary Shelley], chapter IV, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume I, London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, published 1 January 1818, →OCLC, pages 101–102
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinpalpitatio
- Middle Frenchpalpitation
- Englishpalpitation
From Middle French palpitation, from Latin palpitatio.
More words from Middle French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἄραδος
- ἄραδος (árados)abnormal beating of the heart
Arabic خَفَقَان
- خَفَقَان (ḵafaqān)abnormal beating of the heart
Bulgarian сърцебиене
- сърцебиене (sărcebiene)abnormal beating of the heart
Catalan palpitació
- palpitacióabnormal beating of the heart
Chinese Mandarin 心悸
- 心悸 (xīnjì)abnormal beating of the heart
Czech palpitace
- palpitaceabnormal beating of the heart
Finnish sydämentykytys
- sydämentykytysabnormal beating of the heart
French palpitation
- palpitationabnormal beating of the heart
German Herzklopfen, Palpitation
- Herzklopfenabnormal beating of the heart
- Palpitationabnormal beating of the heart
Greek παλμός, καρδιοχτύπι
- παλμός (palmós)abnormal beating of the heart
- καρδιοχτύπι (kardiochtýpi)abnormal beating of the heart
Hungarian szívdobogás
- szívdobogásabnormal beating of the heart
Indonesian palpitasi
- palpitasiabnormal beating of the heart
Irish preabadh
- preabadhabnormal beating of the heart
Japanese 動悸
- 動悸 (dōki)abnormal beating of the heart
Norwegian Bokmål palpitasjon, hjertebank
- palpitasjonabnormal beating of the heart
- hjertebankabnormal beating of the heart
Persian تپش قلب
- تپش قلبabnormal beating of the heart
Polish palpitacja
- palpitacjaabnormal beating of the heart
Portuguese palpitação
- palpitaçãoabnormal beating of the heart
Russian си́льное сердцебие́ние, пальпита́ция
- си́льное сердцебие́ние (sílʹnoje serdcebijénije)abnormal beating of the heart
- пальпита́ция (palʹpitácija)abnormal beating of the heart
Scottish Gaelic plosg, plosgadh
- plosgabnormal beating of the heart
- plosgadhabnormal beating of the heart
Spanish palpitación
- palpitaciónabnormal beating of the heart
Swedish hjärtklappning
- hjärtklappningabnormal beating of the heart
Tagalog tahip, sikdo
- tahipabnormal beating of the heart
- sikdoabnormal beating of the heart
Ukrainian пальпіта́ція
- пальпіта́ція (palʹpitácija)abnormal beating of the heart
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with palpitation
informationeducationlocationapplicationassociationadministrationorganizationcorporationregistrationAsianfoundationcommunicationpopulationnavigationstationaccommodationoperationpublicationvacationtransportationevaluationimplementationinstallationnation
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
palpitation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/palpitation
MLA
“palpitation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/palpitation. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “palpitation,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/palpitation.
Source: palpitation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.