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Origin and history of trepidation

trepidation(n.)

"tremulous agitation; confused hurry or alarm," c. 1600, from Frenchtrepidation (15c.) and directly from Latintrepidationem (nominativetrepidatio) "agitation, alarm, trembling," noun of action from past-participle stem oftrepidare "to tremble, hurry," fromtrepidus "alarmed, scared."

This is reconstructed (Watkins) to be from PIE*trep- "to shake, tremble" (source also of Sanskrittrprah "hasty," Old Church Slavonictrepetati "to tremble"), related to*trem- (seetremble (v.)).

Trepidance "alarm, anxiety, trepidation" is attested from early 15c., probably from Anglo-French. Bailey's dictionary (1727) hastrepidity "agitation, fearfulness." Poe ("Fall of the House of Usher") usedtrepidancy.

Related:Trepidacious (1915);trepidatory (1828);trepidant (1890).Trepid (adj.) is from 1640s, but is rare. Cockeram's dictionary (1623) hastrepidate (v.) "tremble with fear or agitation," from the Latin past-participle stem.

also from c. 1600

Entries linking to trepidation

tremble(v.)

mid-14c.,tremblen, of persons, "quake or shake from fear, cold, emotion, etc.," from Old Frenchtrembler "tremble, fear" (11c.), from Medieval Latintremulare "tremble, fear, hesitate" (source also of Italiantremolare, Spanishtemblar), from Latintremulus "trembling, shaking, quaking," fromtremere "to tremble, shiver, quake" (from PIE*trem- "to tremble").

Hence, figuratively, "be in doubt or suspense." A native word for "to tremble" was Old Englishbifian. Related:Trembled;trembling. The noun, "act or state of trembling," is recorded from c. 1600.

Also reconstructed to be from the PIE root are Greektremein "to shiver, tremble, to quake, to fear," Lithuaniantremiu, tremti "to chase away," Old Church Slavonictreso "to shake," Gothicþramstei "grasshopper."

trepid(adj.)

"trembling from fear or terror," 1640s, from Latintrepidus "scared" (seetrepidation). The negativeintrepid is much more common. Related:Trepidly;trepidness. Bailey's dictionary (1727) hastrepidity "agitation, fearfulness."

intrepid(adj.)

"unmoved by danger, undaunted," 1690s, from Frenchintrépide (16c.) and directly from Latinintrepidus "unshaken, undaunted, not alarmed," fromin- "not" (seein- (1)) +trepidus "alarmed," from PIE*trep-(1) "to tremble" (seetrepidation). Related:Intrepidly;intrepidness (1620s).

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Trends of trepidation

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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atmosphere

'Tis Observed, in the Solary Eclipses, that there is some times a great Trepidation about the Body of the Moon, from which...

adder

Middle English naddre, from Old English (West Saxon) næddre (Mercian nedre, Northumbrian nedra), "a snake; the Serpent in the Garden of Eden," from Proto-Germanic *naethro "a snake" (source also of Old Norse naðra, Middle Dutch nadre, Old High German natra, German Natter, Gothic

dread

late 12c., "to fear very much, be in shrinking apprehension or expectation of," a shortening of Old English adrædan, contraction of ondrædan "counsel or advise against," also "to dread, fear, be afraid," from ond-, and- "against" (the same first element in answer, from PIE root *

apprehension

late 14c., "perception, comprehension," from Old French apreension "comprehension, something learned" or directly from Latin apprehensionem (nominative apprehensio) "a seizing upon, laying hold of; understanding," noun of action from past-participle stem of apprehendere "take hol

delight

c. 1200, delit, "high degree of pleasure or satisfaction," also "that which gives great pleasure," from Old French delit "pleasure, delight, sexual desire," from delitier "please greatly, charm," from Latin delectare "to allure, delight, charm, please," frequentative of delicere

waffle

"kind of batter-cake, baked crisp in irons and served hot," 1744, from Dutch wafel "waffle," from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German wafel, from Proto-Germanic *wabila- "web, honeycomb" (source also of Old High German waba "honeycomb," German Wabe), related to Old High German weba

Atlantic

early 15c., Atlantyke, "of or pertaining to the sea off the west coast of Africa," from Latin Atlanticus, from Greek Atlantikos "of Atlas," adjectival form of Atlas (genitive Atlantos) as used in reference to Mount Atlas in Mauritania (see Atlas). The name has been extended since

precipitation

late 15c., precipitacioun, "a casting down" (of the evil angels from heaven), also, in alchemy "separation of a solid substance from a solution," from Old French precipitation (15c.) and directly from Latin praecipitationem (nominative praecipitatio) "act or fact of falling headl

vesper

late 14c., "the evening star," from Old French vespre "evening, nightfall" (12c., Modern French vêpre), from Latin vesper (masc.), vespera (fem.) "evening star, evening, west," related to Greek hesperos, and ultimately from PIE *uekero- "evening, night" (source also of Armenian g

magazine

1580s, "warehouse, place for storing goods, especially military ammunition," from French magasin "warehouse, depot, store" (15c.), from Italian magazzino, from Arabic makhazin, plural of makhzan "storehouse" (source of Spanish almacén "warehouse, magazine"), from khazana "to stor

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<a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/trepidation">Etymology of trepidation by etymonline</a>

APA Style:

Harper, D. (n.d.). Etymology of trepidation. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved April 3, 2025, from https://www.etymonline.com/word/trepidation

Chicago Style:

Harper Douglas, "Etymology of trepidation," Online Etymology Dictionary, accessed April 3, 2025, https://www.etymonline.com/word/trepidation.

MLA Style:

Harper, Douglas. "Etymology of trepidation." Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/trepidation. Accessed 3 April, 2025.

IEEE Style:

D. Harper. "Etymology of trepidation." Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/word/trepidation (accessed April 3, 2025).

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Origin and history of trepidation

trepidation(n.)

Entries linking to trepidation

Trends of trepidation

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