Quivered

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To have undergone a rapid movement back and forth often caused by fear or anticipation
2. Moved with a slight, rapid trembling motion often caused by cold or nervousness ; exhibited a subtle shaking caused by strong feelings such as excitement or fear
3. Experienced a gentle, shaking movement typically due to anxiety or a chill ; demonstrated an involuntary shaking reflecting emotional intensity or passion

Etymology: The verb "quivered" comes from "quiver," which has two unrelated histories that happen to share a spelling. The one that gives the verb its trembling sense is probably the older of the two, though its ancestry is murky. Middle English had a verb "quiveren," which most likely grew out of an adjective meaning "alive" (Old English "cwic"). The idea seems to have been of a living thing that moves, and the shaking, fluttering motion of fear or anticipation grew naturally from that sense of agitated life. The other "quiver," the case for arrows, came into English from Anglo-Norman "quivre," borrowed from Old Dutch "cocare," meaning a container. That word traces back to a Proto-West Germanic root, "kokar," meaning container. Its ultimate origin is thought to be a Hunnic word for a leather vessel for liquids, though this is uncertain. The two words are not related, which is why the arrow-case noun and the trembling verb look identical on the page but come from different corners of the vocabulary.

Synonyms: trembled, shook, shivered, fluttered, vibrated

Antonyms: stayed still, remained steady, calmed, settled, stabilized