tremulus Latin · revision 31434

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *trem-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈtrɛ.mʊ.ɫʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈtrɛː.mu.lus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''tremulus''' (feminine tremula, neuter tremulum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed from [[m|la|tremō|t=to tremble]] with the suffix [[m|la|-ulus]].^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan traces the verb to [[itc-pro|*trem-e/o-]] and [[ine-pro|*tr(e)m-|t=to tremble]], cognate with [[xum|tremitu|t=let him scare]], [[grc|τρέμω|tr=trémō|t=to tremble]] and [[lt|trìmti|t=to tremble]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008) who has a “trembling old woman” in the ''Curculio''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is trembling or shaking, of people and parts of the body, from age, illness, weakness, fear or cold, as Juvenal's feet that cannot stand.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Of a voluntary movement it is shaking or wriggling, as Catullus' baby boy rocked in his father's arm.^(OLD 2012) Of things it is quivering, as Catullus' creaking bed; of light flickering, as Ennius' trembling light; and of sound quavering, as the mother bird's cry in Cicero's verse.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ Lewis and Short call it poetic and post-Augustan.^(Lewis & Short 1879) In Late Latin, from the 6th-century Plinius Valerius, it is also a noun for the aspen,^(Wiktionary) and medieval Latin keeps it as “trembling poplar”.^(Niermeyer 1976) English ''tremulous'' comes from it, from the 1610s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a trembling old woman.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius of flickering light.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus of a quivering bed.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 6th century AD – Plinius Valerius uses it as a noun for the aspen.^(Wiktionary)

+ * 1610s – English [[m|en|tremulous]] is formed from it.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|trembling|alt=Trembling]], shaking (from age, illness, fear or cold).^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Shaking, wriggling.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Quivering, vibrating;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) (of light) [[m|en|flicker|alt=flickering]];^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) (of sound) [[m|en|tremulous]], quavering.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(Late Latin)'' The [[m|en|aspen]], trembling poplar.^(Wiktionary)^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[contremulus]]

+ * [[intremulus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tremō]]

+ * [[tremor]]

+ * [[en|tremulous]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}