316: quiver Oct 20, 2015

Certain sounds will carry certain meaning; that is the reason many onomatopoetic words that denote noises begin with aspirated sounds, like 'p' and 'b' (such as pow and bang). 'Quiver' as a verb also has its meaning tied to its phonetic pronunciation. It comes through Middle English from the Old English, 'cwifer' meaning ‘nimble, quick’. The initial 'qu-' sound is probably symbolic of rapid movement as is found in 'quaver and quick'.