Diastole
/daɪˈæs.tə.li/noun
The phase of the heartbeat when the heart muscle relaxes and the chambers fill with blood.
Did you know?Diastole comes from Greek medical language built from words meaning “to stretch apart,” a reminder that ancient science often described the body in the same language as expansion, separation, and cosmic opening.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*stel-
“to place, set, arrange; in extended forms, to set apart or stretch”
Ancient Greek
Greek
διαστολή (diastolḗ)
“a drawing apart, expansion, dilation”
Late Latin
Latin
diastole
“a drawing apart; in medical usage, the relaxation phase of the heartbeat”
Middle English
English
diastole
“a medical term for the heart’s relaxation phase”
Modern English
English
diastole
“the phase of the heartbeat in which the heart relaxes and fills with blood”