aquiver

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂en-der.

Proto-Germanic *an

Proto-West Germanic *ana

Old English on

Middle English an

Middle English a-

English a-

English quiver

English aquiver

From a- + quiver.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /əˈkwɪvə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /əˈkwɪvɚ/
• Rhymes: -ɪvə(ɹ)

Adjective

aquiver (not comparable)

1. In a state of excitement, trepidation or agitation; quivering.
   • 1879, W[illiam] S[chwenck] Gilbert, Arthur Sullivan, composer, H.M.S. Pinafore; […], San Francisco: Bacon & Company, […], →OCLC, page 35:

     Sighing softly to the river
     Comes the lonely breeze,
     Setting Nature all a-quiver,
     Rustling through the trees,

   • 1907, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Human Toll (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, page 279:

     There is no colour line in love, and though a-quiver with ungovernable fright, for Ursula's sake black Woona went graphically through the final death contortions of the poisoned mangy pup.

   • 1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 190:

     He had gone inland about half a mile when there came suddenly to his trained nostrils the one scent that sets the whole savage jungle aquiver—Tarzan smelled man.

   • 1926, R.P. Weston, Bert Lee, What I Want is a Proper Cup of Coffee:

     He said "Stand and deliver / For I am all aquiver."

   • 1961, Rachel Carson, The Sea Around Us‎^[1], revised edition, New York: Oxford University Press, Part 1, p. 66:

     Almost the whole continental rim of the Pacific basin is aquiver with earthquakes and fiery with volcanoes, some frequently active, some extinct, some merely sleeping a centuries-long sleep between periods of explosive violence.