palpitation

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a heartbeat that feels unusually rapid, strong, fluttering, or irregular, especially when noticed by the person experiencing it

   She went to the clinic after a sudden palpitation woke her during the night.

2. 2
   noun

   a rapid trembling, throbbing, or quivering movement

   A faint palpitation passed across the surface of the water.

From Middle French palpitation and Latin palpitatio, from palpitare ('to throb, flutter, or tremble'). The medical sense names a heartbeat whose force or rhythm is consciously felt.

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