tremulo

Forms

tremulō (present infinitive tremulāre, perfect active tremulāvī, supine tremulātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin tremulus (“trembling”) + -ō.^[1][2] The adjective tremulus is from tremō “to tremble”.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is rare;^[1] Wiktionary notes that it is found in a seventh-century manuscript.^[1] A Greek–Latin glossary renders it with Ancient Greek τρέμω (trémō), “I tremble”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It means to tremble, quiver or totter;^[2][5] glossaries also gloss it with trepidare and timere, “to be afraid”, and with dubitare, “to hesitate”.^[6] The Corpus Glossary has it.^[2] Medieval Latin tremulare is the source of French trembler, Italian tremolare and Spanish temblar, and through French of English tremble.^[7]

Timeline

• 7th century – It appears in a manuscript.^[1]
• 870 – Köbler, following Latham, dates a medieval record of it to this year.^[5]
• mid-14th century – English tremble, from Old French trembler, continues it.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) To tremble, quiver, totter.^[2][1]
2. (Medieval Latin) To be afraid, to hesitate.^[5][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ Goetz, Georg (1888–1923), Corpus glossariorum Latinorum, Leipzig: Teubner; vols. VI–VII Thesaurus glossarum emendatarum, digital ed. CGLO, Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com