Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

Origin and history of shiver

shiver(v.1)

"to tremble or quiver, shake suddenly," especially with cold, c. 1400, an alteration of chiveren "to shiver" (with cold, chills, horror), c. 1200, a word of uncertain origin, perhaps [Century Dictionary] from Old English ceafl "jaw," on the notion of chattering teeth. Middle English Compendium suggests it is a blend of chillen (see chill (v.)) and Middle English biveren, bivien "to shake, tremble" (from Old English bifian, beofian). The spelling change of ch- to sh- probably is from influence of shake. Related: Shivered; shivering.

We shiver with cold or a sensation like that of cold ; we quake with fear ; we shudder with horror. To quiver is to have a slight tremulous or fluttering motion. [Century Dictionary]

also from c. 1400

shiver(v.2)

"to break in or into many small pieces; to burst, fly, or fall apart at once into many pieces," mid-14c., shiveren, from shiver (n.2) or its source.

Chiefly in the phrase shiver my timbers (1794), "a mock oath attributed in comic fiction to sailors" [OED]. Start my timbers in the same sense is by 1775; smite my timbers by 1782; split by 1786; burst by 1791). My timbers! as a nautical oath is attested by 1775, and timber (n.) "pieces of wood composing the frames of a ship's hull" seems to have been 18c. sailor's slang for "arms and legs" (perhaps with a grim awareness that some of theirs might be of wood after a sea-battle; compare timber-toe "wooden leg," in Grose). Related: Shivered; shivering.

also from mid-14c.

shiver(n.1)

"a tremulous, quivering motion, a shaking fit of the body," 1727, from shiver (v.1). The shivers in reference to an attack of fever chills (or fear) is by 1854.

also from 1727

shiver(n.2)

"small piece, broken bit, splinter, fragment, chip," c. 1200, perhaps from an unrecorded Old English word related to Middle Low German schever, schiver "splinter," Old High German scivero, from Proto-Germanic *skif- "split" (source also of Old High German skivaro "splinter," German Schiefer "splinter, slate"), from PIE root *skei- "to cut, split."

Surviving, if at all, in phrases such as break to shivers "break into bits" (mid-15c.). Also, shiver is said to be still dialectal for "a splinter" in Norfolk and Lincolnshire.

also from c. 1200

Entries linking to shiver

chill(v.)

late 14c., chillen, intransitive, "to feel cold, grow cold;" c. 1400, transitive, "to make cold," from chill (n.). Related: Chilled; chilling; chillingly. The figurative sense of "discourage, dispirit" is from late 14c. The meaning "hang out" is recorded by 1985; from earlier chill out "relax" (1979).

Sheila E. sizzles in the new flick, Krush Groove, but some New York critics couldn't groove with it because many of the terms are unfamiliar to them. Examples: breakin' out (slang for leaving), chill (for cool down) and death (for something that's really good). [Jet, Nov. 11, 1985]

shake(v.)

Middle English shaken, from Old English sceacan "move (something) quickly to and fro, cause to move with quick vibrations; brandish; move the body or a part of it rapidly back and forth;" also "go, glide, hasten, flee, depart" (as in sceacdom "flight"); also intransitive, of persons or parts of the body, "to tremble" especially from fever, cold, fear (class VI strong verb; past tense scoc, past participle scacen).

This is reconstructed to be from Proto-Germanic *skakanan "to shake, swing," also "to escape" (source also of Old Norse, Swedish skaka, Danish skage "to shift, turn, veer"). There are said to be no certain cognates outside Germanic, but some sources suggest a PIE root *(s)keg- "to jump, to move" (compare Sanskrit khaj "to agitate, churn, stir about," Old Church Slavonic skoku "a leap, bound," Welsh ysgogi "move"). Also compare shock (n.1).

Of the ground in earthquakes, c. 1300. The meaning "seize and shake" (someone or something else) is from early 14c. From late 14c. in reference to mixing ingredients, etc., by shaking a container. The meaning "weaken, impair" in any respect is from late 14c. on the notion of "make unstable." The meaning "rid oneself of by abrupt twists" is from c. 1200; the modern colloquial use for "get rid of, cast off, abandon" (by 1872, American English) is likely a new extension on the notion of "throw off by a jolting or abrupt action," perhaps with horses in mind. The verb also was used in Middle English as "evade" responsibility, etc.

To shake hands "greet or salute by grasping one another's hands" dates from 1530s. Colloquial shake a (loose) leg "hurry up" is recorded by 1904; to shake a heel (sometimes foot) is an old or provincial way to say "dance" (1660s); to shake (one's) elbow (1620s) meant "to gamble at dice." In 16c.-18c. English, shake (one's) ears was "bestir oneself," an image of animal awakenings. The phrase more _____ than you can shake a stick at "more than you can count" is attested from 1818 (Lancaster, Pa., "Journal"), American English. To shake (one's) head "move one's head from side to side as a sign of disapproval" is recorded from c. 1300.