Defibrillate
/diːˈfaɪbrɪleɪt/noun
To restore a normal heartbeat by delivering an electric shock to the heart.
Did you know?Defibrillate is built from Latin roots meaning “to remove fibers,” because the original idea was to stop the heart from fibrillating—shaking into chaotic, fiber-like twitching.
Etymological Timeline
Latin
Latin
fibra
“a fiber or filament”
Late Latin
Latin
defibrillare
“to remove fibers or filaments”
19th Century
English
defibrillate
“to remove fibrin from a substance, especially blood”
20th Century
English
defibrillation
“the medical process of stopping fibrillation in the heart by electric shock”
Modern English
English
defibrillate
“to treat a dangerously irregular heartbeat with an electric shock”