diastole

Meanings

1. The phase or process of relaxation and dilation of the heart chambers, between contractions, during which they fill with blood; an instance of the process.
2. The lengthening of a vowel or syllable beyond its typical length.
3. The hypodiastole, a textual or punctuation mark formerly used to disambiguate homonyms in Greek.

Etymology

From Ancient Greek διαστολή (diastolḗ, “separation, drawing asunder”), from διά (diá, “apart”) + στέλλειν (stéllein, “send”).