pulsation

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UK/pʌlˈseɪʃn̩/US/pəlˈseɪʃən/

noun

The regular throbbing of the heart, an artery etc. in a living body; the pulse.

Similar
pulsingpulseimpulseheartbeatbeat
OriginMiddle English pulsacioun ← Middle French pulsacion ← Latin pulsātiō →
UncommonFirst used 15th c.Scrabble 11
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Word of the Day · Oct 3, 2024

Meanings

nounpulsation (countable and uncountable, plural pulsations)

plural pulsations

  1. countableuncountableThe regular throbbing of the heart, an artery etc. in a living body; the pulse.First known use 15th c.

    Pulsation had ceased. For three days the body was preserved unburied, during which it had acquired a stony rigidity.

    1844, Edgar Allan Poe, The Premature Burial
  2. countableuncountableAny rhythmic beating, throbbing etc.First known use 17th c.

    Lo! as a dove when up she springs ⁠To bear thro’ Heaven a tale of woe, ⁠Some dolorous message knit below The wild pulsation of her wings; Like her I go; I cannot stay; ⁠I leave this mortal ark behind […]

    1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC
  3. countableuncountablebiologyThe rhythmic increase and decrease of size in naked zoospores and plasmodia.
  4. archaiccountableuncountablePhysical striking; a blow.First known use 17th c.

    By the Cornelian law, pulsation as well as verberation is prohibited.

    1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, (please specify |book=I to IV), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC
  5. countableuncountableA single beat, throb or vibration.First known use 19th c.

Synonyms & antonyms

noun(electronics) a sharp transient wave in the normal electrical state (or a series of such transients)

Similar
pulsingpulseimpulse
Broader
waveundulation

nounthe rhythmic contraction and expansion of the arteries with each beat of the heart

Similar
pulseheartbeatbeat
Broader
periodic eventrecurrent event
Also see
beatheartbeatimpulsepulsepulsingstroke

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinpulsātiō“(classical Latin) a beating or striking; (Medieval Latin, medical) rhythmical expansion and contraction (1363 in Chauliac)”
  2. Middle Frenchpulsacion“(of bells) a striking (end of 14th c.); (of a diseased part of the body) a throbbing (1377); pulsation (1575)”
  3. Middle Englishpulsacioun“pulsing of the blood, throbbing”
  4. Englishpulsation

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.

More words from Middle English, Middle French, Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic نَبْض, نَبْضُ القَلْب
  • نَبْض (nabḍ)regular throbbing of the heart
  • نَبْضُ القَلْب (nabḍu l-qalb)regular throbbing of the heart
Bulgarian туптене, пулс
  • туптене (tuptene)regular throbbing of the heart
  • пулс (puls)regular throbbing of the heart
Portuguese pulsação
  • pulsaçãoregular throbbing of the heart
Ukrainian пульса́ція
  • пульса́ція (pulʹsácija)regular throbbing of the heart

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with pulsation

informationeducationlocationapplicationassociationadministrationorganizationcorporationregistrationAsianfoundationcommunicationpopulationnavigationstationaccommodationoperationpublicationvacationtransportationevaluationimplementationinstallationnation
All rhymes →

Anagrams

platinous
Cite this entry
APA

pulsation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pulsation

MLA

“pulsation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pulsation. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pulsation,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pulsation.

Source: pulsation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.