impulse

See also: impulsé and Impulse

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French impulser, from Latin impulsus.

For spelling, as in pulse, the -e (on -lse) is so the end is pronounced /ls/, rather than /lz/ as in pulls, and does not change the vowel (‘u’). Compare else, false, convulse.

Pronunciation

• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) IPA^(key): /ˈɪmpʌls/
• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter)

  Audio (US):

  (file)

• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) Hyphenation: im‧pulse

Noun

impulse (plural impulses)

1. A thrust; a push; a sudden force that impels.
   • S. Clarke

     All spontaneous animal motion is performed by mechanical impulse.

2. A wish or urge, particularly a sudden one prompting action.

   The impulse to learn drove me to study night and day.

   When I saw the new dictionary, I couldn't resist the impulse to browse through it.

   • Dryden

     These were my natural impulses for the undertaking.
3. (physics) The integral of force over time.

   The total impulse from the impact will depend on the kinetic energy of the bullet.

Derived terms

• impulse buy
• nerve impulse
• on impulse

Related terms

• impel
• impulsion
• impulsive
• impulsively
• impulsiveness
• impulsivity
• impulsor
• pulse

Translations

sudden force that impels

• Basque: olde
• Bulgarian: стимул (bg) m (stimul), импулс (bg) m (impuls)
• Catalan: impuls (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 衝動 / 冲动 (zh) (chōngdòng), 冲动 (zh) (chōngdòng), 意氣 / 意气 (zh) (yìqì), 意气 (zh) (yìqì), 衝量 / 冲量 (zh) (chōngliàng), 冲量 (zh) (chōngliàng), 衝力 / 冲力 (zh) (chōnglì), 冲力 (zh) (chōnglì)

• Esperanto: impulso (eo)
• Finnish: impulssi (fi)
• French: impulsion (fr)
• Galician: impulso m
• German: Impuls (de) m, Triebkraft f
• Greek: παρόρμηση (el) f (parórmisi), ορμέμφυτο (el) n (ormémfyto)

  Ancient: παρόρμησις f (parórmēsis)

• Hungarian: impulzus (hu)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: impulso (it), aire (it) m, slancio (it) m, abbrivo (it) m, rincorsa (it) f
• Japanese: 衝動 (ja) (しょうどう, shōdō), 衝撃 (ja) (しょうげき, shōgeki), 推進力 (ja) (すいしんりょく, suishinryoku), インパルス (inparusu), 出来心 (できごころ, dekigokoro)
• Khmer: ពលវេគ (pʊəl veikii)
• Persian: تکانه
• Polish: impuls (pl) m
• Portuguese: impulso (pt) m
• Romanian: impuls (ro) n
• Russian: и́мпульс (ru) m (ímpulʹs), поры́в (ru) m (porýv), побужде́ние (ru) n (pobuždénije), толчо́к (ru) m (tolčók)
• Spanish: impulso (es) m
• Swedish: impuls (sv), ingivelse (sv)
• Tagalog: pitlag

wish

• Bulgarian: подбуда (bg) f (podbuda)
• Catalan: antull (ca) m, capritx m, caprici m
• German: Drang (de) m, innerer Antrieb m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Spanish: capricho (es) m

(physics) integral force over time

• Bulgarian: импулс (bg) m (impuls)
• Catalan: impuls (ca) m, impulsió (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 衝量 / 冲量 (zh) (chōngliàng), 冲量 (zh) (chōngliàng), 衝力 / 冲力 (zh) (chōnglì), 冲力 (zh) (chōnglì)

• Czech: impuls síly m
• German: Kraftstoß m
• Irish: spreagadh m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: 衝撃 (ja) (しょうげき, shōgeki), 推進力 (ja) (すいしんりょく, suishinryoku)
• Russian: и́мпульс (ru) m (ímpulʹs), толчо́к (ru) m (tolčók)
• Spanish: impulso (es) m
• Swedish: impuls (sv) c
• Tagalog: dantay

Verb

1. (obsolete) To impel; to incite.

   (Can we [[:Category:Requests for quotations/{{{2}}}|find and add]] a quotation of {{{2}}} to this entry?)

References

• “impulse”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “impulse”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• impulse in the Online Etymology Dictionary

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French

Pronunciation

• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) Homophones: impulsent, impulses

Verb

impulse

1. (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) first-person singular present indicative of impulser
2. (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) third-person singular present indicative of impulser
3. (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) first-person singular present subjunctive of impulser
4. (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) first-person singular present subjunctive of impulser
5. (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) second-person singular imperative of impulser

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Italian

Verb

impulse

1. (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) third-person singular past historic of impellere

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Latin

Participle

(deprecated template usage) impulse

1. (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) vocative masculine singular of impulsus

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Spanish

Noun

impulse m (plural impulses)

1. push, shove

Verb

impulse

1. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of impulsar.
2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of impulsar.
3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of impulsar.