different between impulse vs escapade

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

Borrowed from French escapade (“the act of escaping; a trick”), borrowed from Old Spanish escapada, from escapar (“to escape”), from Vulgar Latin *excapp? (“to escape”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: ?s'k?-p?d', IPA^(key): /??sk??pe?d/
• Rhymes: -e?d

Noun

escapade (plural escapades)

1. A daring or adventurous act; an undertaking which goes against convention.
   • 1816, Sir Walter Scott, The Antiquary - Volume II, ch. 9:

     [Nobody] stood more confounded than Oldbuck at this sudden escapade of his nephew. "Is the devil in him," was his first exclamation, "to go to disturb the brute?"

   • 1918, P. G. Wodehouse, Piccadilly Jim, ch. 1:

     He is always doing something to make himself notorious. There was that breach-of-promise case, and that fight at the political meeting, and his escapades at Monte Carlo.

   • 2011 March 4, Richard Corliss, "The Adjustment Bureau" (film review), Time (retrieved 23 March 2014):

     He seems on the verge of winning the New York Senate election when the New York Post runs a photo of David’s exposed butt in a mooning escapade from his college days.

Related terms

• escape

Translations

French

Noun

escapade f (plural escapades)

1. escapade

Galician

Verb

escapade

1. second-person plural imperative of escapar