Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Trepidation

Trep′i·da′tion (·ĭ·dā′shŭn), n. [F. trépidation, L. trepidatio, fr. trepidare to hurry with alarm, to tremble, from trepidus agitated, disturbed, alarmed; cf. trepit he turns, Gr. τρέπειν to turn, E. torture.] 1. An involuntary trembling, sometimes an effect of paralysis, but usually caused by terror or fear; quaking; quivering.

2. Hence, a state of terror or alarm; fear; confusion; fright; as, the men were in great trepidation.

3. (Anc. Astron.) A libration of the starry sphere in the Ptolemaic system; a motion ascribed to the firmament, to account for certain small changes in the position of the ecliptic and of the stars.

Syn. — Tremor; agitation; disturbance; fear.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty.