Ruminations.
Where does the word "shiver" come from?
"Shiver" as a verb meaning "to tremble or shake suddenly with cold" is of uncertain origin, but it probably comes from a mix of Old Englishceafl, "jaw," and Old English bifian, "to tremble," appearing around 1400. The noun meaning "a quivering motion" derives from it and appears in 1727. A second meaning of the noun is "a splinter or fragment," appearing around 1200, which possibly derives from a different Old English word. The second verbal meaning "to break apart into many pieces" derives from this second noun, around 1350. The OED lists 23 different meanings for the word - 10 nouns and 13 verbs. Obsolete meanings for the noun include "a loose fiber of undressed hemp; the breastplate of a plough;" obsolete verbal meanings are "to send down debris by crumbling; to cause a person to shake." The earliest written use of the noun is in 1275, in the writings of Layamon, poet; of the verb, around 1200, in Trinity College Homilies. Links.NightCafe Image Source