Tremulation

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A fine, rapid shaking or vibrating motion of the body or a part of it
2. The act or state of trembling slightly with quick, repeated oscillations
3. A quivering or shuddering effect produced by a series of small, rapid movements

Etymology: "Tremulation" is a noun built from a Medieval Latin verb, "tremulare," meaning to tremble or quiver, which itself grew from the Latin adjective "tremulus," trembling. The Latin root "tremere," to shake, lies behind all of these forms. The noun is formed by adding the suffix "-ion," which turns an action into a name for that action, so the word describes the act or state of trembling rather than the trembling thing itself. Medieval Latin writers reached for "tremulatus," the past participle of "tremulare," and English took the resulting noun from that later Latin stock rather than from classical texts. The word therefore sits a step removed from ancient Rome: its shape comes from the classical verb "tremere," but its immediate ancestor was a medieval coinage that extended the older vocabulary.

Synonyms: trembling, vibration, quivering, shaking

Antonyms: stillness, stability