trepidation

noun ! Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about trepidation at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

1. Anxiety over the uncertain future or possible ill-occurrence.

   I decided, with considerable trepidation, to let him drive my car without me.

2. An involuntary trembling, sometimes an effect of paralysis, but usually caused by terror or fear.
3. A libration of the starry sphere in the Ptolemaic system; a motion ascribed to the firmament, to account for certain small changes in the position of the ecliptic and of the stars.