trepidation (trepid ash on)

[OF. trepi dation, F. trepidation = Sp. trepid a cion = Pg. trepid ação = It. trepid azione, There useth to be more trepidation in court upon the first breaking out of trouble than were fit. Bacon , Seditions and Troubles (ed. 1887). 2. A trembling of the limbs, as in paralytic affections.-3. A vibratory motion; a vibration. It cometh to pa in ma ive bodies that they have certain trepidations and waverings before they fix and settle. Bacon , Advancement of Learning, ii. 4. In anc. astron., a libration of the eighth sphere, or a motion which the Ptolemaic system ascribes to the firmament to account for certain phenomena, especially prece ion, really due to motions of the axis of the earth. That crystalline sphere whose balance weighs The trepidation talk'd, and that first moved. Milton , P. L., iii. 483. =Syn. 1. Tremor, Emotion, etc. (see agitation ), flutter, tremulousne , discomposure.