trembler

English

Etymology

tremble +‎ -er

Noun

trembler (plural tremblers)

1. One who, or that which, trembles.
2. Any of various New World passerine birds of the family Mimidae.
3. The vibrating hammer, or spring contact piece of a hammer break, as of the electric ignition apparatus for an internal combustion engine.

Derived terms

• knee-trembler

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French

Etymology

From Middle French trembler, from Old French trambler and its variants, from Vulgar Latin tremulāre, present active infinitive of tremulō, a derivate of Classical Latin tremere, present active infinitive of tremō (whence French craindre); cf. tremulus. Doublet with trémuler, a borrowing.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tʁɑ̃.ble/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophones: tremblai, tremblé, tremblez

Verb

trembler

1. to tremble, shake

Conjugation

Conjugation of trembler (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	trembler
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	tremblant /tʁɑ̃.blɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		tremblé /tʁɑ̃.ble/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	tremble /tʁɑ̃bl/	trembles /tʁɑ̃bl/	tremble /tʁɑ̃bl/	tremblons /tʁɑ̃.blɔ̃/	tremblez /tʁɑ̃.ble/	tremblent /tʁɑ̃bl/
	imperfect	tremblais /tʁɑ̃.blɛ/	tremblais /tʁɑ̃.blɛ/	tremblait /tʁɑ̃.blɛ/	tremblions /tʁɑ̃.bli.jɔ̃/	trembliez /tʁɑ̃.bli.je/	tremblaient /tʁɑ̃.blɛ/
	past historic2	tremblai /tʁɑ̃.ble/	tremblas /tʁɑ̃.bla/	trembla /tʁɑ̃.bla/	tremblâmes /tʁɑ̃.blam/	tremblâtes /tʁɑ̃.blat/	tremblèrent /tʁɑ̃.blɛʁ/
	future	tremblerai /tʁɑ̃.blə.ʁe/	trembleras /tʁɑ̃.blə.ʁa/	tremblera /tʁɑ̃.blə.ʁa/	tremblerons /tʁɑ̃.blə.ʁɔ̃/	tremblerez /tʁɑ̃.blə.ʁe/	trembleront /tʁɑ̃.blə.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	tremblerais /tʁɑ̃.blə.ʁɛ/	tremblerais /tʁɑ̃.blə.ʁɛ/	tremblerait /tʁɑ̃.blə.ʁɛ/	tremblerions /tʁɑ̃.blə.ʁjɔ̃/	trembleriez /tʁɑ̃.blə.ʁje/	trembleraient /tʁɑ̃.blə.ʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	tremble /tʁɑ̃bl/	trembles /tʁɑ̃bl/	tremble /tʁɑ̃bl/	tremblions /tʁɑ̃.bli.jɔ̃/	trembliez /tʁɑ̃.bli.je/	tremblent /tʁɑ̃bl/
	imperfect2	tremblasse /tʁɑ̃.blas/	tremblasses /tʁɑ̃.blas/	tremblât /tʁɑ̃.bla/	tremblassions /tʁɑ̃.bla.sjɔ̃/	tremblassiez /tʁɑ̃.bla.sje/	tremblassent /tʁɑ̃.blas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	tremble /tʁɑ̃bl/	—	tremblons /tʁɑ̃.blɔ̃/	tremblez /tʁɑ̃.ble/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms

• trembler comme une feuille

Related terms

• tremblement
• trembleur

Further reading

• “trembler”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Middle French

Etymology

From Old French trembler, trambler.

Verb

trembler

1. to tremble; to quiver; to shake

Conjugation

• Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.

Conjugation of trembler

infinitive	simple	trembler
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	tremblant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		tremblé
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	tremble	trembles	tremble	tremblons	tremblez	tremblent
	imperfect	tremblois, trembloys	tremblois, trembloys	trembloit, trembloyt	tremblions, tremblyons	trembliez, tremblyez	trembloient, trembloyent
	past historic	trembla	tremblas	trembla	tremblasmes	tremblastes	tremblerent
	future	tremblerai, trembleray	trembleras	tremblera	tremblerons	tremblerez	trembleront
	conditional	tremblerois, trembleroys	tremblerois, trembleroys	trembleroit, trembleroyt	tremblerions, trembleryons	trembleriez, trembleryez	trembleroient, trembleroyent
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que ie (i’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ilz, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	tremble	trembles	tremble	tremblons	tremblez	tremblent
	imperfect	tremblasse	tremblasses	tremblast	tremblassions	tremblassiez	tremblassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	tremble	—	tremblons	tremblez	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The present participle was variable in gender and number until the 17th century (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], Une esthétique nouvelle: Honoré d'Urfé, correcteur de l'Astrée, p. 179). The French Academy would eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679.
2 The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with preposition en, as in Modern French, although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], op. cit., p. 180).

Descendants

• French: trembler

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Old French

Alternative forms

• trenbler, tranbler, trambler

Etymology

From Late Latin tremulāre, ultimately from Latin tremere.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tremˈbleːr/
• IPA^(key): /tramˈbleːr/
• IPA^(key): /tramˈbler/

Verb

trembler

1. to tremble
   • circa 1250, Rustebuef, L'Ave Marie Rustebuef:

     Au Jugement,
     Quant il fera si aigrement
     Tout le monde communement
     Trambler come fueille,

     On the day of Judgment
     When he will bitterly
     Make everyone
     Tremble like a leaf

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. In the present tense an extra supporting e is needed in the first-person singular indicative and throughout the singular subjunctive, and the third-person singular subjunctive ending -t is lost. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

    Conjugation of trembler (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		trembler			avoir tremblé
gerund		en tremblant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		tremblant
past participle		tremblé
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	tremble	trembles	tremble	tremblons	tremblez	tremblent
	imperfect	trembloie, trembleie, trembloe, trembleve	trembloies, trembleies, trembloes, trembleves	trembloit, trembleit, tremblot, trembleve	trembliiens, trembliens	trembliiez, trembliez	trembloient, trembleient, trembloent, tremblevent
	preterite	tremblai	tremblas	trembla	tremblames	tremblastes	tremblerent
	future	tremblerai	trembleras	tremblera	tremblerons	trembleroiz, tremblereiz, tremblerez	trembleront
	conditional	trembleroie, tremblereie	trembleroies, tremblereies	trembleroit, tremblereit	trembleriiens, trembleriens	trembleriiez, trembleriez	trembleroient, tremblereient
compound tenses	present perfect	present tense of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect tense of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	preterite tense of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future tense of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional tense of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que jo	que tu	qu’il	que nos	que vos	qu’il
simple tenses	present	tremble	trembles	tremble	tremblons	tremblez	tremblent
	imperfect	tremblasse	tremblasses	tremblast	tremblissons, tremblissiens	tremblissoiz, tremblissez, tremblissiez	tremblassent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	tremble	—	tremblons	tremblez	—

Descendants

• Middle French: trembler
  • French: trembler
• → Middle English: tremblen
  • English: tremble