different between impulse vs eccentricity

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

• IPA^(key): /??mp?ls/
• Hyphenation: im?pulse

Noun

impulse (plural impulses)

1. A thrust; a push; a sudden force that impels.
   • c. 1715-1716, Samuel Clarke, letter to Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz

     All spontaneous animal motion is performed by mechanical impulse.

2. A wish or urge, particularly a sudden one prompting action.
   • 1692?, John Dryden, Sylvae (translations), Preface

     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 projectile.

Derived terms

• impulse buy
• nerve impulse
• on impulse

Related terms

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

Translations

Verb

impulse (third-person singular simple present impulses, present participle impulsing, simple past and past participle impulsed)

1. (obsolete) To impel; to incite.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Alexander Pope to this entry?)

References

• impulse in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• impulse in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “impulse”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

French

Pronunciation

• Homophones: impulsent, impulses

Verb

impulse

1. first-person singular present indicative of impulser
2. third-person singular present indicative of impulser
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of impulser
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of impulser
5. second-person singular imperative of impulser

Italian

Verb

impulse

1. third-person singular past historic of impellere

Latin

Participle

impulse

1. vocative masculine singular of impulsus

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.

English

Etymology

eccentric +? -ity

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /??k.s?n?t??s.?.ti/, [??k.s?n?t??s.?.?i]

Noun

eccentricity (countable and uncountable, plural eccentricities)

1. The quality of being eccentric or odd; any eccentric behaviour.
2. (mathematics) The ratio, constant for any particular conic section, of the distance of a point from the focus to its distance from the directrix.

3. (astronomy) The eccentricity of the conic section (usually an ellipse) defined by the orbit of a given object around a reference object (such as that of a planet around the sun).

Translations