Quaven

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. An archaic form meaning to tremble, shake, or quiver slightly with fear, cold, or emotion
2. Archaically describing the act of trembling or quivering, as a body or voice does under strong feeling
3. Old-fashioned verb for shaking or vibrating tremulously, especially from fear, weakness, or excitement

Etymology: "Quaven" is an older variant of "quaver," a verb meaning to tremble or shake, and it is most often used of a voice that wavers. Its roots lie in the same family of Germanic words for trembling, and the sound of the word suits the sense: the "qu" starts with a flutter, much like the thing it names. Because "quaven" survives mainly as a variant rather than as a separate word, the two forms are best understood together. "Quaver" later also came to describe a musical note of half the length of a crotchet, probably through the sense of a trembling or rapidly repeated sound.