tergiversate

English

WOTD – 19 December 2008

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin tergiversor (“turn one's back, make excuses”); from tergum (“the back”) + versō, frequentative of vertō (“turn”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɜːdʒɪvəseɪt/
• enPR: tər-jɪv'ər-sāt, IPA^(key): /tɝˈdʒɪvɝseɪt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Verb

1. (intransitive) To evade, to equivocate using subterfuge; to obfuscate in a deliberate manner.
   • 1999, Philip McCutchan and Werner Levi, The Hoof, →ISBN, page 18:

     The officials soon concluded that the easiest way to remain on good terms with the court was to elude responsibility, to tergiversate, to prevent results.

2. (intransitive) To change sides or affiliation; to apostatize.
   • 2002, Colin Morris and Peter Roberts, chapter 8, in Pilgrimage: The English Experience from Becket to Bunyan, →ISBN, page 221:

     Henry had hesitated before authorising the spoliation; he would soon tergiversate on other matters of doctrine but this act was irreversible.

Synonyms

• (to evade, obfuscate): prevaricate
• (to change sides): desert

Derived terms

• tergiversation

Translations

to evade, to equivocate using subterfuge; to deliberately obfuscate

• Czech: vytáčet se, vymlouvat se
• French: se dérober (fr); tergiverser (fr) (in part)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Portuguese: tergiversar (pt)
• Romanian: tergiversa (ro)
• Russian: уклоня́ться (ru) impf (uklonjátʹsja), уви́ливать (ru) impf (uvílivatʹ), увёртываться (ru) impf (uvjórtyvatʹsja)

to change sides or affiliation; to apostatize

• Arabic: اِرْتَدَّ (irtadda)
• Czech: odpadnout, přeběhnout
• Finnish: kääntää takkinsa
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• French: changer de camp, retourner sa chemise (fr)
• Russian: предава́ть (ru) impf (predavátʹ), отступа́ться (ru) impf (otstupátʹsja), переметну́ться (ru) pf (peremetnútʹsja)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Spanish: tergiversar (es)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

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Italian

Verb

tergiversate

1. second-person plural present indicative of tergiversare
2. second-person plural imperative of tergiversare
3. feminine plural of tergiversato

Anagrams

• gravitereste

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Latin

Participle

(deprecated template usage) tergiversāte

1. vocative masculine singular of tergiversātus