pulsar

See also: pulsár, púlsar, and Pulsar

English

Etymology

Blend of pulsating +‎ (radio) star, patterned after quasar. Coined by British astronomers Antony Hewish and Jocelyn Bell in 1968, and first used in print in The Daily Telegraph. By surface analysis, pulse +‎ -ar

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpʌl.sɑːr/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

pulsar (plural pulsars)

1. (astronomy) A rotating neutron star that emits radio pulses periodically.
   • 2023 August 30, Ashley Strickland, “Astronomers solve the puzzle of an unusual pulsing dead star”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     Rapidly rotating dead stars, pulsars are so named because as they spin, they release beams of electromagnetic radiation across space that appear to pulse like celestial lighthouses.
     But a pulsar called PSR J1023+0038, located about 4,500 light-years away from Earth in the Sextans constellation, is even more unusual in that some of the pulses are brighter than others, almost like it’s switching between different modes.

Synonyms

• PSR (abbreviation)

Hypernyms

• neutron star
• star
• variable star

Hyponyms

• accretion-powered pulsar
• gamma pulsar
• magnetar
• millisecond pulsar
• optical pulsar
• rotation-powered pulsar
• RRAT (rotating radio transient)
• SGR (soft-gamma repeater)

Derived terms

• accretion-powered pulsar
• binary pulsar
• circumpulsar
• double pulsar
• gamma pulsar
• millisecond pulsar
• optical pulsar
• PSR (abbreviation)
• pulsar clock
• pulsarlike
• pulsar wind nebula
• radiopulsar
• rotation-powered pulsar
• X-ray pulsar

Translations

rotating neutron star

• Arabic: نباض
• Armenian: պուլսար (hy) (pulsar)
• Belarusian: пульса́р m (pulʹsár)
• Bulgarian: пулса́р (bg) m (pulsár)
• Catalan: púlsar m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 脈衝星 / 脉冲星 (zh) (màichōngxīng)

• Czech: pulzar m, pulsar m
• Danish: pulsar c
• Dutch: pulsar (nl) c
• Esperanto: pulsaro
• Finnish: pulsari (fi)
• French: pulsar (fr) m
• Georgian: პულსარი (ṗulsari)
• German: Pulsar (de) m
• Greek: πάλσαρ (el) m (pálsar)
• Hebrew: פולסר (he) m
• Hungarian: pulzár (hu)
• Ido: pulsaro (io)
• Irish: pulsár m
• Japanese: パルサー (parusā)
• Korean: 펄서 (ko) (peolseo)
• Latvian: pulsārs m
• Lithuanian: pulsaras m
• Malay: pulsar
• Norwegian: pulsar m
• Persian: تپ‌اخت
• Polish: pulsar (pl) m
• Portuguese: pulsar (pt) m
• Romanian: pulsar (ro) m
• Russian: пульса́р (ru) m (pulʹsár)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: пу̀лса̄р m

  Latin: pùlsār (sh) m

• Slovene: púlzar m
• Spanish: púlsar (es) m
• Swedish: pulsar (sv) c
• Thai: พัลซาร์ (pan-saa)
• Turkish: pulsar (tr), atarca (tr)
• Ukrainian: пульса́р m (pulʹsár)
• Vietnamese: sao xung
• Volapük: pebastel

See also

• astronomical object
• astrophysical object
• astrophysical source
• celestial object
• heavenly body

Further reading

• pulsar on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “pulsar”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “pulsar”, in Merriam-Webster.com Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English pulsar.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

pulsar c (plural pulsars, no diminutive)

1. (astronomy) pulsar

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English pulsar.

Pronunciation

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

IPA^(key): /pyl.saʁ/

Noun

pulsar f (plural pulsars)

1. (astronomy) pulsar

Ido

Etymology

From Esperanto pulsi, from English pulsate, German pulsieren, Spanish pulsar, Portuguese pulsar, ultimately from Latin pulsō, frequentative of pellō (“drive, strike”).

Verb

pulsar (present tense pulsas, past tense pulsis, future tense pulsos, imperative pulsez, conditional pulsus)

1. (transitive) to push, thrust, impel
2. (intransitive) to beat, throb, pulsate

Conjugation

Conjugation of pulsar

		present		past		future
infinitive		pulsar		pulsir		pulsor
tense		pulsas		pulsis		pulsos
conditional		pulsus		—		—
imperative		pulsez		—		—
adjective active participle		pulsanta		pulsinta		pulsonta
adverbial active participle		pulsante		pulsinte		pulsonte
nominal active participle	singular	pulsanto		pulsinto		pulsonto
	plural	pulsanti		pulsinti		pulsonti
adjective passive participle		pulsata		pulsita		pulsota
adverbial passive participle		pulsate		pulsite		pulsote
nominal passive participle	singular	pulsato		pulsito		pulsoto
	plural	pulsati		pulsiti		pulsoti

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Borrowed from English pulsar.

Noun

pulsar m (definite singular pulsaren, indefinite plural pulsarer, definite plural pulsarene)

1. (astronomy) a pulsar

References

• “pulsar” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English pulsar.

Noun

pulsar m (definite singular pulsaren, indefinite plural pulsarar, definite plural pulsarane)

1. (astronomy) a pulsar

Etymology 2

Noun

pulsar m

1. indefinite plural of puls

References

• “pulsar” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Polish

pulsar

Etymology

Borrowed from English pulsar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpul.sar/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ulsar
• Syllabification: pul‧sar

Noun

pulsar m inan

1. (astronomy) pulsar (rotating neutron star that emits radio pulses periodically)

Declension

Declension of pulsar

	singular	plural
nominative	pulsar	pulsary
genitive	pulsara	pulsarów
dative	pulsarowi	pulsarom
accusative	pulsar	pulsary
instrumental	pulsarem	pulsarami
locative	pulsarze	pulsarach
vocative	pulsarze	pulsary

Further reading

• “pulsar”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[2] (in Polish)
• pulsary in PWN's encyclopedia

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /puwˈsa(ʁ)/ [puʊ̯ˈsa(h)]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /puwˈsa(ʁ)/ [puʊ̯ˈsa(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /puwˈsa(ɾ)/ [puʊ̯ˈsa(ɾ)]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /puwˈsa(ʁ)/ [puʊ̯ˈsa(χ)]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /puwˈsa(ɻ)/ [puʊ̯ˈsa(ɻ)]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /pulˈsaɾ/ [puɫˈsaɾ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /pulˈsaɾ/ [puɫˈsaɾ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /pulˈsa.ɾi/ [puɫˈsa.ɾi]

• Hyphenation: pul‧sar

Etymology 1

Learned borrowing from Latin pulsāre. Doublet of the inherited puxar.

Verb

pulsar (first-person singular present pulso, first-person singular preterite pulsei, past participle pulsado)

1. to pulse, beat, pulsate

Conjugation

    Conjugation of pulsar (See Appendix:Portuguese verbs)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	pulsar
Personal	pulsar	pulsares	pulsar	pulsarmos	pulsardes	pulsarem
Gerund
	pulsando
Past participle
Masculine	pulsado			pulsados
Feminine	pulsada			pulsadas
Indicative
Present	pulso	pulsas	pulsa	pulsamos	pulsais	pulsam
Imperfect	pulsava	pulsavas	pulsava	pulsávamos	pulsáveis	pulsavam
Preterite	pulsei	pulsaste	pulsou	pulsamos1, pulsámos2	pulsastes	pulsaram
Pluperfect	pulsara	pulsaras	pulsara	pulsáramos	pulsáreis	pulsaram
Future	pulsarei	pulsarás	pulsará	pulsaremos	pulsareis	pulsarão
Conditional	pulsaria	pulsarias	pulsaria	pulsaríamos	pulsaríeis	pulsariam
Subjunctive
Present	pulse	pulses	pulse	pulsemos	pulseis	pulsem
Imperfect	pulsasse	pulsasses	pulsasse	pulsássemos	pulsásseis	pulsassem
Future	pulsar	pulsares	pulsar	pulsarmos	pulsardes	pulsarem
Imperative
Affirmative		pulsa	pulse	pulsemos	pulsai	pulsem
Negative (não)		não pulses	não pulse	não pulsemos	não pulseis	não pulsem

¹Brazilian Portuguese.
²European Portuguese.

Derived terms

• pulsante

Related terms

• pujança
• pujante
• pulseira
• pulso
• puxante
• puxar

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English pulsar.

Noun

pulsar m (plural pulsares)

1. (astronomy) pulsar (rotating neutron star)

Further reading

• “pulsar”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “pulsar”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from English pulsar or French pulsar.

Noun

pulsar m (plural pulsari)

1. pulsar

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	pulsar	pulsarul	pulsari	pulsarii
genitive-dative	pulsar	pulsarului	pulsari	pulsarilor
vocative	pulsarule		pulsarilor

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Borrowed from English pulsar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pǔlsaːr/

Noun

pùlsār m inan (Cyrillic spelling пу̀лса̄р)

1. (astronomy) pulsar

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin pulsāre. Doublet of the inherited pujar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pulˈsaɾ/ [pulˈsaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: pul‧sar

Verb

pulsar (first-person singular present pulso, first-person singular preterite pulsé, past participle pulsado)

1. to press (a button, etc.)

   pulsar un botón ― to press a button

2. (computing) to click (to press and release a button on a computer mouse)

   (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:)

3. to pulsate

Conjugation

    Conjugation of pulsar (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			pulsar
gerund			pulsando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		pulsado		pulsada
		plural		pulsados		pulsadas
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	pulso	pulsastú pulsásvos	pulsa	pulsamos	pulsáis	pulsan
	imperfect	pulsaba	pulsabas	pulsaba	pulsábamos	pulsabais	pulsaban
	preterite	pulsé	pulsaste	pulsó	pulsamos	pulsasteis	pulsaron
	future	pulsaré	pulsarás	pulsará	pulsaremos	pulsaréis	pulsarán
	conditional	pulsaría	pulsarías	pulsaría	pulsaríamos	pulsaríais	pulsarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	pulse	pulsestú pulsésvos2	pulse	pulsemos	pulséis	pulsen
	imperfect (ra)	pulsara	pulsaras	pulsara	pulsáramos	pulsarais	pulsaran
	imperfect (se)	pulsase	pulsases	pulsase	pulsásemos	pulsaseis	pulsasen
	future1	pulsare	pulsares	pulsare	pulsáremos	pulsareis	pulsaren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		pulsatú pulsávos	pulse	pulsemos	pulsad	pulsen
	negative		no pulses	no pulse	no pulsemos	no pulséis	no pulsen

¹Rare; now chiefly used in legal language.
²Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tuteo-form for the present subjunctive.

    Selected combined forms of pulsar

These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.

		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
with infinitive pulsar	dative	pulsarme	pulsarte	pulsarle, pulsarse	pulsarnos	pulsaros	pulsarles, pulsarse
	accusative	pulsarme	pulsarte	pulsarlo, pulsarla, pulsarse	pulsarnos	pulsaros	pulsarlos, pulsarlas, pulsarse
with gerund pulsando	dative	pulsándome	pulsándote	pulsándole, pulsándose	pulsándonos	pulsándoos	pulsándoles, pulsándose
	accusative	pulsándome	pulsándote	pulsándolo, pulsándola, pulsándose	pulsándonos	pulsándoos	pulsándolos, pulsándolas, pulsándose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative pulsa	dative	púlsame	púlsate	púlsale	púlsanos	not used	púlsales
	accusative	púlsame	púlsate	púlsalo, púlsala	púlsanos	not used	púlsalos, púlsalas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative pulsá	dative	pulsame	pulsate	pulsale	pulsanos	not used	pulsales
	accusative	pulsame	pulsate	pulsalo, pulsala	pulsanos	not used	pulsalos, pulsalas
with formal second-person singular imperative pulse	dative	púlseme	not used	púlsele, púlsese	púlsenos	not used	púlseles
	accusative	púlseme	not used	púlselo, púlsela, púlsese	púlsenos	not used	púlselos, púlselas
with first-person plural imperative pulsemos	dative	not used	pulsémoste	pulsémosle	pulsémonos	pulsémoos	pulsémosles
	accusative	not used	pulsémoste	pulsémoslo, pulsémosla	pulsémonos	pulsémoos	pulsémoslos, pulsémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative pulsad	dative	pulsadme	not used	pulsadle	pulsadnos	pulsaos	pulsadles
	accusative	pulsadme	not used	pulsadlo, pulsadla	pulsadnos	pulsaos	pulsadlos, pulsadlas
with formal second-person plural imperative pulsen	dative	púlsenme	not used	púlsenle	púlsennos	not used	púlsenles, púlsense
	accusative	púlsenme	not used	púlsenlo, púlsenla	púlsennos	not used	púlsenlos, púlsenlas, púlsense

Related terms

• expulsar
• impulsar
• pulsación
• pulsador
• pulso

Further reading

• “pulsar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Swedish

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English pulsar.

Noun

pulsar c

1. pulsar (a rotating neutron star that emits radio pulses periodically)

Declension

Declension of pulsar

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	pulsar	pulsars
	definite	pulsaren	pulsarens
plural	indefinite	pulsarer	pulsarers
	definite	pulsarerna	pulsarernas

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

pulsar

1. indefinite plural of puls

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

pulsar

1. present indicative of pulsa

Further reading

• “pulsar”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)

Turkish

Etymology

Borrowed from English pulsar.

Noun

pulsar (definite accusative pulsarı, plural pulsarlar)

1. (astronomy) pulsar (rotating neutron star that emits radio pulses periodically)

   Synonym: atarca

Declension

Declension of pulsar

	singular	plural
nominative	pulsar	pulsarlar
definite accusative	pulsarı	pulsarları
dative	pulsara	pulsarlara
locative	pulsarda	pulsarlarda
ablative	pulsardan	pulsarlardan
genitive	pulsarın	pulsarların

Further reading

• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–), “pulsar”, in Nişanyan Sözlük