tapotement

1 9.9

A massage movement that taps the chest with the fingers or the edge of the hand to loosen mucus

noun
/ˌtæpəˈtɛmənt/

Specialized

: tapotamiento

The physiotherapist used tapotement to help the patient clear mucus from his lungs.

Examples

The therapist used tapotement to help clear my congestion.
Swedish massage sometimes includes tapotement as part of the treatment routine.
Learning proper tapotement technique can be beneficial for respiratory therapy.
After the tapotement, I felt much better.
A therapist may use tapotement to help clear mucus from a patient's lungs.
The instructor demonstrated tapotement by rhythmically tapping the patient's back.
When treating respiratory issues, tapotement is often recommended to loosen phlegm.

How Intense

percussion

Specialized

1 7.5

tapotement

Specialized

1 9.9

effleurage

Specialized

1 9.9

Surface Forms

tapotement singular

tapotements plural

Morphology

tapotement = tapot + ment

The word is a technical borrowing (from French tapoter + -ment) so its meaning 'a tapping technique' is inferable from the notion of 'tap', but the morpheme 'tapot' is not an English base, making the formation only partially transparent to learners.

Etymology

Tapotement comes from the French verb tapoter, which means 'to tap' or 'to pat'. Think of the light, fast tapping you do when you 'tap' a table, and that's the rhythmic tapping used in this massage to loosen mucus and help breathing.