arrhythmia
Word family
Synonym discussion
Sense: noun/1
Arrhythmia is the broad medical term for any abnormality in the heart's rhythm — whether the heart beats too fast, too slow, or unevenly. Cardiac arrhythmia means the same thing but is the full clinical label used in hospital records and medical journals. Irregular heartbeat is the everyday equivalent that patients and non-specialists use; it is less precise but covers the same ground. Dysrhythmia is a near-synonym that technically includes any abnormal rhythm (not just of the heart) but in practice is often used interchangeably with arrhythmia in cardiology. Palpitations are not a type of arrhythmia — they are the sensation of feeling your own heartbeat pound, flutter, or race, which may or may not be caused by an underlying arrhythmia. A patient might say 'I have palpitations,' while the doctor's diagnosis would be 'arrhythmia' if the ECG confirms a rhythm disorder.
Common collocations
Etymology
From Greek arrhythmia, from arrhythmos meaning 'without rhythm' (a- 'without' + rhythmos 'rhythm'). The term entered English medical writing around 1860 as doctors began to describe irregularities in the heartbeat using the language of rhythm rather than pulse quality.
First known use
1860
1860, in the meaning defined above