tremore

Forms

tremore m (plural tremori)^[1]

Etymology

It is learned: it is borrowed from Latin tremor (“a trembling”), from tremō (“to tremble”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The Latin noun was formed from the verb with the suffix -or.^[6][1] The inherited verb from the same root is tremare.^[5][7]

Latin tremō goes back to Proto-Italic *trem-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *trem- (“to tremble”), with cognates in Ancient Greek τρέμω (trémō, “I tremble”), Lithuanian trìmti (“to tremble”) and Tocharian.^[8]

The sources date the first record differently: Zingarelli before 1257, GRADIT before 1320, and DELI about 1350, in the Italian translation of Pietro de' Crescenzi.^[2][4][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Zingarelli dates the word before 1257.^[2] The early quotations are from love poetry, where tremore is the trembling that the sight of the lady causes in the lover: Onesto da Bologna feels it in zascun membro (in every limb), and Dante in the Vita nuova feels uno mirabile tremore begin in the left side of his breast and spread through his body.^[3]

Semantic evolution

DELI dates the general sense “the movement of something or someone that trembles” from about 1350 and the figurative “grave apprehension, agitation” from the 14th century, in the Italian version of Gregory's Moralia and other texts.^[9] Battisti and Alessio record the tremor of an earthquake in 1599 (Ferrante Imperato) and a musical sense, “tremolo”, in 1676 (Daniello Bartoli).^[10]

Tommaseo distinguished it from tremito: tremore was the stronger and passing shaking of a high fever or great fear, tremito the lasting, often morbid trembling of the old or paralysed.^[11] Medicine now uses tremore for the involuntary rhythmic oscillation of a part of the body, and seismology for a slight shock of the ground.^[4][12] Foscolo applied it to a whole people living in fearful subjection.^[5]

Timeline

• Before 1257 – First record according to Zingarelli.^[2]
• Before 1320 – First record according to GRADIT.^[4]
• About 1350 – The Italian Crescenzi uses the word for physical trembling.^[9][10]
• 14th century – The figurative sense “apprehension” appears.^[9]
• 1599 – Ferrante Imperato uses it of an earthquake.^[10]
• 1676 – Daniello Bartoli uses it in music.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. trembling, shaking, from cold, fever, fear or strong emotion: Un tremore gli prese le gambe prima dell'esame.^{[4][5][13][1]}
2. (medicine) tremor, an involuntary rhythmic oscillation of a part of the body caused by the alternate contraction of opposing muscles.^[4][2][12]
3. (by extension) Vibration or quivering of an object.^[4]
4. (figurative) Strong inner agitation, anxiety, trepidation.^{[4][5][13][14]}
5. (seismology) tremore del suolo: a slight earthquake shock.^[12]

Word family

• tremoroso

Related words

• tremare
• tremolio
• tremolare
• tremito
• Latin tremor

Usage notes

An old variant is trimore.^[3] Tommaseo noted the near synonyms tremito and tremolio and distinguished their uses.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
4. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b c d Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3883
11. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
13. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli