English
depulse
Depulse comes from Latin depulsus ‘removed, expelled, repelled’, from dēpellō ‘to drive out’, and ultimately from Proto-Italic *pelnō ‘to approach’.
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pelnō1‘to approach’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpellō1‘push, drive’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēpellō2as depellere, past participle‘to drive out’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdepulsus2‘removed, expelled, repelled’
- Englishearliest quotation 1670depulse2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin depello
- 2 Wiktionary, English depulse
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1670, Epicurus's Morals:: “Animals of different species being depulsed and kept apart”.
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pelnōWiktionary, Latin depello‘to approach’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpellōWiktionary, Latin depello‘push, drive’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēpellōWiktionary, English depulseas depellere, past participle‘to drive out’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdepulsusWiktionary, English depulse‘removed, expelled, repelled’
- Englishearliest quotation 1670depulseWiktionary, English depulse. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1670, Epicurus's Morals:: “Animals of different species being depulsed and kept apart”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pelh₂- ‘to approach’
through Proto-Italic *pelnō ‘to approach’
through Latin pellō ‘push, drive’
appeal, repeal, appellate, compel, expel, compulsory, propel, dispel, propulsion, repel, impulse, expulsion, pelt, compulsive, impel, rappel, repulse, 14 more
Today it means
verb To drive away.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “depulse”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin depello. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Italic *pelnō / depulse