tremolo
Meaning
a wavering effect in singing or playing a musical instrument, produced by the rapid reiteration of a note or by rapid alternation between two notes.
a mechanical device in an organ for producing a tremolo effect.
Structure
Usage
the violinist added a delicate tremolo to the long, sustained note.
the singer's emotional performance was heightened by her use of vocal tremolo.
he engaged the tremolo arm on his electric guitar to create a psychedelic effect.
Etymology
The word tremolo entered English directly from Italian in the 18th century, a borrowing from the vocabulary of music. Its Italian source, 'tremolo', is an adjective meaning 'trembling', derived from the Latin verb 'tremere', which carries the core meaning 'to shake, quiver'. This Latin root is ancient, traceable to the Proto-Indo-European base trem- meaning 'to tremble', which also gives us English words like 'tremble' and 'tremor'. The logic of the word is beautifully transparent: the musical technique literally creates a 'shaking' or trembling sound, a direct semantic inheritance from its Latin ancestor through Italian.
Analysis
trem is from italian, itself from latin 'tremere' meaning 'to tremble, shake'. olo is an italian suffix used to form nouns, often indicating an instrument or agent.