quiver

Meanings

Noun

• A container for arrows, crossbow bolts or darts, such as those fired from a bow, crossbow or blowgun.
• A ready storage location for figurative tools or weapons.
• A multidigraph.

Adjective

• Nimble, active.

Verb

• To shake or move with slight and tremulous motion

Origin

• From Middle English quiver, from Anglo-Norman quivre, from Old Dutch cocar (source of Dutch koker, and cognate to Old English cocer ("quiver, case")), from Proto-West Germanic *kukur ("container"), said to be from Hunnic, possibly from Proto-Mongolic *kökexür; see there for more. Replaced early modern cocker, the inherited reflex of that West Germanic word.
• From Middle English quiver, cwiver, from Old English *cwifer, probably related to cwic.
• From Middle English quiveren, probably from the adjective.