earthquake
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earthquake
- /ˈɜːθkweɪk/ UK
- /ˈɝθkweɪk/ US
Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)θkweɪk
Where it comes from
From Middle English erthequake, corresponding to earth + quake. Displaced Middle English eorð byfung (“earthquake”) from Old English eorþbeofung (literally “earth shaking”).
noun earthquakes
- A shaking of the ground, caused by volcanic activity or movement around geologic faults. Her alablaster brest she soft did kis, / Which all that while shee felt to pant and quake, / As it an Earth-quake were: at last she thus bespake.
- Such a quake specifically occurring on the planet Earth, as opposed to other celestial bodies. Since the response of some man-made structures to the ground motion near the epicenter is highly dependent on frequency, a significant difference in potential damage to the structures is expected between earthquakes and moonquakes.
- A sudden and intense upheaval; a severely disruptive event. As we have seen, economic earthquakes often result in political shockwaves. […] He highlights a correlation between those states with the highest robot density and those states that unexpectedly swung behind Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election, namely Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Similar: earthdin, quake, seism, temblor, terremote, tremblor, tremor
verb earthquakes · earthquaking · earthquaked
- To undergo an earthquake. Watch the Philippines very closely for the next little while. There is rumbling and earthquaking deep within Pinatubo and increased earthquaking within Mayon.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: seism, temblor, quake, aftershock, seismic, seismology, seismological, eruption, ground, tsunami, epicenter, buffet, twitch, shakes, upheaval, disaster
Translations
Every language
noun shaking of the surface of a planet
| Español | terremoto |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 지진 jijin |
| 日本語 | 地震 jishin |
| 中文 | 地震 dìzhèn, 地動 /地动 dìdòng |
| हिन्दी | भूकंप bhūkamp, ज़लज़ला zalzalā, भूचाल bhūcāl, भूकप bhūkap |
| Kiswahili | tetemeko la ardhi, zilizala |
| Português | sismo, terramoto, terremoto, tremor de terra, tremor |
| Français | tremblement de terre, séisme |
| Deutsch | Erdbeben |
| Italiano | terremoto, sisma, tremuoto |
| Ελληνικά | σεισμός seismós, Εγκέλαδος Egkélados, τερρεμότο terremóto |
| Română | cutremur |
| Русский | землетрясе́ние zemletrjasénije |
| Tiếng Việt | động đất |
| العربية | زَلْزَال zalzāl, زِلْزال zilzāl, زَلْزَلَة zalzala, هَزَّة أَرْضِيَّة, رَجْفَة rajfa |
| עברית | רְעִידַת אֲדָמָה r'idát adamá, רַעַשׁ rá'ash |
verb Translations
| 中文 | 地震 dìzhèn |
|---|
Talk about this word "earthquake." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/earthquake. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. earthquake. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/earthquake "earthquake." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/earthquake.Cite this
@misc{earthquake_2026,
title = {earthquake},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/earthquake},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
