earthquake

A2 Topic:Space, Position & Direction

US /ˈɝθkweɪk/ UK /ˈɜːθkweɪk/ See IPA manual

noun verb Freq #5824

Meanings

1

noun
A sudden, violent shaking of the ground caused by movements deep inside the earth.

The earthquake destroyed hundreds of homes in the city.
2

noun
A sudden event that causes great disruption or upheaval.

The scandal caused a political earthquake in the government.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a sudden, violent shaking... quake tremor temblor

More earthdinseismterremotetremblor

Word family

Forms earthquakes

Derived forms antiearthquakebirthquakecuntquakeearthquake-proneearthquakelikeearthquakeproofearthquakyfootquakehurriquakemegaearthquakemicroearthquakemirthquake

Related forms moonquakeseaquakestarquake

Etymology

From Middle English erthequake, corresponding to earth + quake. Displaced Middle English eorð byfung (“earthquake”) from Old English eorþbeofung (literally “earth shaking”).

*h₁er- Proto-Indo-European erthequake Middle English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Space, Position & Direction

# earthquake

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** ˈɝθkweɪk
**IPA (UK):** ˈɜːθkweɪk
**Frequency rank:** 5824

## Meanings
1. A sudden, violent shaking of the ground caused by movements deep inside the earth.
2. A sudden event that causes great disruption or upheaval.

## Examples
- The earthquake destroyed hundreds of homes in the city.
- The scandal caused a political earthquake in the government.

## Synonyms
- earthdin
- quake
- seism
- temblor
- terremote
- tremblor
- tremor

## Derived Forms
- antiearthquake
- birthquake
- cuntquake
- earthquake-prone
- earthquakelike
- earthquakeproof
- earthquaky
- footquake
- hurriquake
- megaearthquake
- microearthquake
- mirthquake

## Related Forms
- moonquake
- seaquake
- starquake

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *h₁er-
- Root: erthequake

## Etymology
From Middle English erthequake, corresponding to earth + quake. Displaced Middle English eorð byfung (“earthquake”) from Old English eorþbeofung (literally “earth shaking”).

## AI Etymology
Earthquake comes from Middle English erthequake, corresponding to earth + quake. Displaced Middle English eorð byfung (“earthquake”) from Old English eorþbeofung (literally “earth shaking”). In current use, the main senses are “A sudden, violent shaking of the ground caused by movements deep inside the earth” and “A sudden event that causes great disruption or upheaval”.

## Topics
- Space, Position & Direction

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earthquake

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