Crossword clues for trepidation
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Trepidation \Trep`i*da"tion\, n. [F. tr['e]pidation, L. trepidatio, fr. trepidare to hurry with alarm, to tremble, from trepidus agitated, disturbed, alarmed; cf. trepit he turns, Gr. ? to turn, E. torture.]
An involuntary trembling, sometimes an effect of paralysis, but usually caused by terror or fear; quaking; quivering.
Hence, a state of terror or alarm; fear; confusion; fright; as, the men were in great trepidation.
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(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.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
c.1600, from Middle French trepidation (15c.) and directly from Latin trepidationem (nominative trepidatio) "agitation, alarm, trembling," noun of action from past participle stem of trepidare "to tremble, hurry," from trepidus "alarmed, scared," from PIE *trep- (1) "to shake, tremble" (cognates: Sanskrit trprah "hasty," Old Church Slavonic trepetati "to tremble"), related to *trem- (see tremble (v.)).
Wiktionary
n. A fearful state; a state of hesitation or concern.
WordNet
n. a feeling of alarm or dread
Wikipedia
According to a now-obsolete medieval theory of astronomy, trepidation is oscillation in the precession of the equinoxes. The theory was popular from the 9th to the 16th centuries.
The origin of the theory of trepidation comes from the Small Commentary to the Handy Tables written by Theon of Alexandria in the 4th century CE. In precession, the equinoxes appear to move slowly through the ecliptic, completing a revolution in approximately 25,800 years (according to modern astronomers). Theon states that certain (unnamed) ancient astrologers believed that the precession, rather than being a steady unending motion, instead reverses direction every 640 years. The equinoxes, in this theory, move through the ecliptic at the rate of 1 degree in 80 years over a span of 8 degrees, after which they suddenly reverse direction and travel back over the same 8 degrees. Theon describes but did not endorse this theory.
A more sophisticated version of this theory was adopted in the 9th century to explain a variation which Islamic astronomers incorrectly believed was affecting the rate of precession. This version of trepidation is described in De motu octavae sphaerae (On the Motion of the Eighth Sphere), a Latin translation of a lost Arabic original. The book is attributed to the Arab astronomer by Thābit ibn Qurra, but this model has also been attributed to Ibn al-Adami and to Thabit's grandson, Ibrahim ibn Sinan. In this trepidation model, the oscillation is added to the equinoxes as they precess. The oscillation occurred over a period of 7000 years, added to the eighth (or ninth) sphere of the Ptolemaic system. "Thabit's" trepidation model was used in the Alfonsine Tables, which assigned a period of 49,000 years to precession. This version of trepidation dominated Latin astronomy in the later Middle Ages.
Islamic astronomers described other models of trepidation. In the West, an alternative to De motu octavae sphaerae was part of the theory of the motion of the Earth published by Nicolaus Copernicus in De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (1543). Copernicus' version of trepidation combined the oscillation of the equinoxes (now known to be a spurious motion) with a change in the obliquity of the ecliptic ( axial tilt), acknowledged today as an authentic motion of the Earth's axis.
Trepidation was the mainstay of Hindu astronomy and was used to compute ayanamsha for converting sidereal to tropical longitudes. The third chapter of the Suryasiddhanta, verses 9-10, provides the method for computing it, which E. Burgess interprets as 27 degree trepidation in either direction over a full period of 7200 years, at an annual rate of 54 seconds. This is nearly the same as the Arab period of about 7000 years. The zero date according to the Suryasiddhanta was 499 AD, after which trepidation is forward in the same direction as modern equinoctial precession. For the period before 1301 BCE, Suryasiddhantic trepidation would be opposite in sign to equinoctial precession. For the period 1301 BCE to 2299 AD, equinoctial precession and Suryasiddhantic precession would have the same direction and sign, only differing in magnitude. Brahma Siddhanta, Soma Siddhanta and Narada Purana describe exactly the same theory and magnitude of trepidation as in Suryasiddhanta, and some other Puranas also provide concise references to precession, esp Vayu purana and Matsya Purana.
Usage examples of "trepidation".
That was apprized of all that had passed, I by no means inferred from the tenour of his conversation with Constantia, nor, if this had been incontestably proved, should I have experienced any trepidation or anxiety on that account.
Trahern sat silent, unmoving as the barouche halted, and Shanna glanced at him with a certain amount of trepidation, not willing to break his mood.
Gilles and Anisia, married less than two months, had seemed young and frightened, full of childish trepidations, their mourning for Thomas Blas more a matter of alarm that they had been plunged into the charge of an isolated rural estate than of grief at his untimely death.
I was called formally to his room, and went with some trepidation as I assumed that I must have misbehaved, since he was not a man who gave himself much to his children, being too occupied with more important matters.
He used energy from frustration and trepidation to channel strong spells of protection and discipline into the main gauche for Tinne Holly.
Her trepidations were mingled with emotions not unakin to sublimity, but the consciousness of danger speedily prevailed, and she hastened to acquit herself of her engagement.
Marsali sat down, reached under her arisaid to unfasten her bodice, and set the baby to her breast, her lip clenched between her teeth with trepidation.
Brianna thought, eyeing Jemmy with some trepidation as she envisioned the future.
Ignoring her trepidation, she took a step toward him, lifting the naja in her hand.
Locals regarded the picket of dark Skins with considerable trepidation.
I was still looking at the unopened envelope with some trepidation when the telephone rang.
Although it was far lower than treetops he would have assayed without trepidation, he felt a momentary pang of acrophobia.
As it is, users are likely to respond with some trepidation to the need to install plug-ins and to the avalanche of information their single, innocuous, mouse click generates.
Micawber was obliged, in great trepidation, to run down to the water-butt in the backyard, and draw a basinful to lave her brow with.
And at the merry lilting of it Bibbs's father's son took heart to forget some of his trepidation.