Hypertext Webster Gateway: "trepidation"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
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.]
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.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
trepidation
n : a feeling of alarm or dread
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