quiver
see also: Quiver
Pronunciation
  • (RP) IPA: /ˈkwɪvə/
  • (America, Canada) enPR: kwĭˈvər, IPA: /ˈkwɪvɚ/
Etymology 1

From Middle English quiver, from Anglo-Norman quivre, from odt cocar (source of Dutch koker, and cognate to Old English cocer), from Proto-West Germanic *kokar, said to be from xhc -, possibly from xgn-pro *kökexür; see there for more.

Noun

quiver (plural quivers)

  1. (weaponry) A container for arrows, crossbow bolts or darts, such as those fired from a bow, crossbow or blowgun.
    • 1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act I, scene i], line 271:
      Don Pedro: Nay, if Cupid have not spent all his quiver in Venice, thou wilt quake for this shortly.
    • 1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 39:
      Arrows were carried in quiver, called also an arrow case, which served for the magazine, arrows for immediate use were worn in the girdle.
  2. (figuratively) A ready storage location for figurative tools or weapons.
    He's got lots of sales pitches in his quiver.
  3. (obsolete) A vulva.
  4. (obsolete) The collective noun for cobras.
  5. (mathematics) A multidigraph.
Translations Translations Etymology 2

From Middle English quiver, cwiver, from Old English *cwifer, probably related to cwic.

Adjective

quiver

  1. (archaic) Nimble, active.
    • c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act III, scene ii], line 281:
      [...] there was a little quiver fellow, and 'a would manage you his piece thus; and 'a would about and about, and come you in and come you in.
Etymology 3

From Middle English quiveren, probably from the adjective.

Verb

quiver (quivers, present participle quivering; simple past and past participle quivered)

  1. (intransitive) To shake or move with slight and tremulous motion.
    Synonyms: tremble, quake, shudder, shiver
    • c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act II, scene iii], line 12:
      The birds chaunt melodie on euerie buſh,
      The ſnakes[sic – meaning ſnake] lies rolled in the chearefull ſunne,
      The greene leaues quiuer with the cooling winde,
      And make a checkerd ſhadow on the ground: [...]
    • 1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC ↗, Act I, scene iv, page 2 ↗:
      And left the limbs still quivering on the ground.
    • 1851 November 13, Herman Melville, chapter 84, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC ↗, page 410 ↗:
      Next moment with a rapid, nameless impulse, in a superb lofty arch the bright steel spans the foaming distance, and quivers in the life spot of the whale.
    • 1919 October, John Galsworthy, chapter VIII, in Saint’s Progress, London: William Heinemann, published December 1919, →OCLC ↗, part III, page 300 ↗:
      And the moonlight on the Church seemed to shift and quiver—some pigeons perhaps had been disturbed up there.
Translations
Quiver
Etymology

Corruption of the French Cuivre, from cuivre ("copper").

Proper noun
  1. Ellipsis of Quiver Creek A stream in Illinois, USA.
  2. A twp in Mason County, Illinois, named after Quiver Creek.



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