tergiversation

English

WOTD – 16 December 2012

Etymology

From Latin tergiversātiō, from tergiversārī (“to turn one's back, to evade, to avoid”) + -tiō (“-tion: forming abstract nouns”). Equivalent to tergiversate +‎ -ion.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /tɝd͡ʒɪvɚˈseɪʃən/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /tɜːd͡ʒɪvəˈseɪʃən/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

Noun

tergiversation (countable and uncountable, plural tergiversations)

1. The act of abandoning something or someone, of changing sides; desertion; betrayal.
   • 1985, John Fowles, A Maggot:

     They make their outward impudence their mask, as foxes, the better we may not see where they truly tend, nor their true black tergiversation beneath.

2. The act of evading any clear course of action or speech, of being deliberately ambiguous; equivocation; fickleness.
   • 1931, Bertrand Russell, The Scientific Outlook:

     Anyone who desires an hour's amusement may be advised to look up the tergiversations of eminent craniologists in their attempts to prove from brain measurements that women are stupider than men.

Related terms

• tergiversate

Translations

act of abandoning, changing sides

• Bulgarian: отстъпничество (bg) n (otstǎpničestvo)
• Finnish: takinkääntö (fi)
• Macedonian: отста́пништво n (otstápništvo), отстапу́вање n (otstapúvanje)

act of evading clear course

• Bulgarian: увъртане (bg) n (uvǎrtane)
• Finnish: kiertely (fi), kaartelu (fi)
• Macedonian: вр́тење n (vŕtenje)
• Portuguese: tergiversação (pt) f
• Romanian: tergiversare (ro) f

Anagrams

• interrogatives, reinvestigator

French

Etymology

From Latin tergiversātiōnem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.sa.sjɔ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

tergiversation f (plural tergiversations)

1. delays in providing a clear answer caused by hesitations or an outright unwillingness to be forthright

Usage notes

• Usage as a pluralia tantum rather than as a mass noun is more common.

Further reading

• “tergiversation”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.