tremble

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English tremblen, earlier tremlen,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French trembler (“to tremble, fear”),^[5][6][2][7] from Vulgar Latin *tremulō,^[7][2][8] recorded in Medieval Latin with the sense "to tremble, fear, hesitate",^[5][9][6] from Latin tremulus (“trembling, shaking, quaking”), from tremō (“to tremble, shiver, quake”),^{[5][8][10][9]} from Proto-Indo-European *trem- (“to tremble”).^[5][8] The OED suggests that the Latin verb influenced the early forms without a b, and Barnhart notes that the spelling with b was reinforced by the French spelling, in Chaucer's translation of Boethius about 1380.^[6][2] The same root gave Ancient Greek τρέμω (trémō, “to shiver, tremble, quake, fear”), Lithuanian tremti (“to chase away”) and Tocharian A träm- (“to tremble”).^[5][8][9] The native Old English word for "tremble" was bifian.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of a person, to shake involuntarily from fear, cold or weakness: 1303, in Robert Mannyng's Handlyng Synne.^[6][2] Etymonline dates the word to the mid 14th century.^[5] The Anglo-Norman verb, recorded from 1113–19, already had this sense and others, such as shivering with cold or fever and trembling with fear.^[11]

Semantic evolution

Chaucer applied the verb to things that vibrate or quiver (about 1374), and by about 1400 it described the wavering of light, sound or the voice.^[6] The figurative sense, to be in dread or anxious suspense, is recorded from about 1425.^[6][5] A transitive use, "to dread, tremble at", after the Latin verb, appears in the early Wycliffite Bible and lasted until 1565, and Spenser used the verb for "to make tremble" in 1591.^[6] Johnson (1755) defined it as "to shake as with fear or cold; to shiver; to quake; to shudder".^[12] The noun appeared in the early 17th century,^[6][9][5] and the colloquial all of a tremble from 1719;^[6] the phrase was widespread in dialect, with forms such as trimble and tremmel, and the trembles meant ague or palsy, especially in sheep.^[13][6] In North America the trembles is also a disease of livestock caused by poisonous plants, and the word names the American aspen.^[9][6]

Timeline

• 1303 – of a person, to shake involuntarily from fear, cold or weakness.^[6][2]
• c. 1374 – of things, to vibrate or quiver, in Chaucer.^[6]
• before 1382 – transitive, to dread, tremble at (obsolete by 1565).^[6]
• c. 1400 – of light, sound or the voice, to waver.^[6]
• c. 1425 – to be in dread or anxiety.^[6]
• 1591 – transitive, to cause to tremble.^[6]
• 1610 – noun, an act or fit of trembling.^[6] Merriam-Webster and Barnhart date the noun to 1609.^[9][2]
• 1719 – all of a tremble.^[6]
• 1749 – the American aspen.^[6]
• before 1803 – the trembles, a disease marked by shaking, especially in sheep.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To shake involuntarily, as from fear, cold or excitement; to shiver: Her hands trembled as she opened the letter.^[14][9][6]
2. Of things: to vibrate or quiver: The windows trembled as the lorry passed.^[14][9][6]
3. Of the voice, light or sound: to waver.^[6][9]
4. To be afraid or anxious: I tremble to think what she will say.^[14][6]

Noun

1. An act of trembling; a tremor or fit of shaking, as in all of a tremble.^[14][9][6]
2. the trembles: a disease marked by shaking, especially a poisoning of livestock.^[9][6]
3. The American aspen.^[9][6]

Word family

• trembler
• tremblingly
• trembly
• atremble

Related words

• tremor
• tremulous
• tremendous
• tremolo
• trepidation
• terrible

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
11. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
13. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
14. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins