temblor

[ tem-bler, -blawr; Spanish tem-blawr ]

noun

, plural tem·blors, Spanish tem·blo·res [tem-, blaw, -, r, es].

1. a tremor; earthquake.

temblor

/ ˈtɛmblə; -blɔː /

noun

1. an earthquake or earth tremor

Word History and Origins

Origin of temblor¹

An Americanism first recorded in 1895–1900; from Spanish: literally, “a quaking,” equivalent to tembl(ar) “to quake” (perhaps ultimately from Latin timēre “to fear” and Late Latin tremulāre “to quake”) + -or noun suffix; tremble, -or ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of temblor¹

C19: American Spanish, from Spanish temblar to shake, tremble

Example Sentences

It’s been an unusually active year for earthquakes in Los Angeles, as Thursday morning’s magnitude 4.7 Malibu temblor shows.

From Los Angeles Times

The 1989 temblor was a magnitude 6.9 and centered in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

From Los Angeles Times

This year also marked the 30th anniversary of Los Angeles’ last destructive earthquake: the magnitude 6.7 Northridge temblor.

From Los Angeles Times

Over that time period, Jones said, there was an average of eight to 10 independent sequences of earthquakes annually that included at least one temblor of magnitude 4 or greater.

From Los Angeles Times

A magnitude 3.2 earthquake struck off the coast of Malibu on Saturday afternoon, the latest temblor this month to rumble along the Southern California coast.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• earthquake
• upheaval