tremble
pronunciation
How to pronounce tremble in British English:
UK [ˈtrembl]
How to pronounce tremble in American English:
US [ˈtrembl]
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- Noun:
- reflex shaking caused by cold or fear or excitement
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- Verb:
- move or jerk quickly and involuntarily up and down or sideways
Word Origin
- tremble
- tremble: [14] Tremble goes back ultimately to a prehistoric base *trem- ‘shake’, which probably has connections with English terrify, terror, etc. Amongst the Latin descendants of this base were tremor ‘shaking’ (source of English tremor [14]), tremere ‘tremble’ (source of English tremendous [17]), and tremulus ‘shaking’ (source of English tremolo [19] and tremulous [17]). The last of these formed the basis of a Vulgar Latin verb *tremulāre, which passed into English via Old French trembler as tremble.=> terrify, terror, tremendous, tremor, tremulous
- tremble (v.)
- c. 1300, "shake from fear, cold, etc.," from Old French trembler "tremble, fear" (11c.), from Vulgar Latin *tremulare (source also of Italian tremolare, Spanish temblar), from Latin tremulus "trembling, shaking, quaking," from tremere "to tremble, shiver, quake," from PIE *trem- "to tremble" (cognates: Greek tremein "to shiver, tremble, to quake, to fear," Lithuanian trimu "to chase away," Old Church Slavonic treso "to shake," Gothic þramstei "grasshopper"). A native word for this was Old English bifian. Related: Trembled; trembling. The noun is recorded from c. 1600.
Example
- 1. His lip began to tremble .
- 2. Then bluebeard bawled out so loud that he made the whole house tremble .
- 3. Oliver nodded , trying hard not to tremble .
- 4. And tremble and despoil themselves : oh hear !
- 5. I felt mr rochester suddenly tremble .