tergiversatev.
/ˈtəːdʒᵻvəˌseɪt/, /ˈtəːdʒᵻˌvəːseɪt/, U.S. /ˈtərdʒəvərˌseɪt/, /ˌtərdʒəˈvərˌseɪt/ 1. intransitive. To practise tergiversation; to desert one's party, turn renegade, apostatize; to shift, shuffle, use subterfuge or evasion; †to refuse to obey, act the recusant.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > reversal of or forsaking one's will or purpose > reverse or abandon one's purpose [verb (intransitive)] > desert one's party or principles
declinec1374
starta1450
revert?a1525
to fall away1535
to turn (one's) tippet1546
revolt1549
shrink1553
to turn one's coat1565
to come over1576
apostate1596
to change (one's) sides1596
defect1596
renegade1611
to change foot1618
to run over1643
to face about1645
apostatize1648
tergiverse1675
tergiversate1678
desert1689
apostasize1696
renegado1731
rat1810
to cross the floor1822
turncoat1892
to take (the) soup1907
turn1977
1678 R. Cudworth True Intellect. Syst. Universe i. iv. 569 Plotinus..as if he were conscious that this assumentum to the Platonick Theology, were not so defensible a thing, doth himself sometime as it were tergiversate and decline it by equivocating in the Word Henades.
1862 F. C. L. Wraxall tr. V. Hugo Les Misérables v. xvii Tergiversation is useless, for what side of himself does a man show in tergiversating?
1877 C. M. Yonge Cameos cxxxix, in Monthly Packet Aug. 130 Wyatt was examined again and again, and wavered and tergiversated a good deal.
2. literal. To turn the back (for flight or retreat).
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going away > go away [verb (intransitive)] > run away or flee > attempt to run away
tergiversate1875
1875 E. Poste tr. Gaius Institutionum Iuris Civilis (ed. 2) iv. Comm. 509 If the defendant on being summoned to appear before the magistrate tergiversates or attempts to flee.
Derivatives
ˈtergiversated adj. renegade, apostate.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > reversal of or forsaking one's will or purpose > [adjective]
renayedc1380
renegate1488
regenerate?1536
runagate1549
renegantc1550
turncoat1571
relenting1576
reneged1594
renegado1612
recreant1613
tergiversating1654
renegade1664
apostate1671
tergiversant1710
blackleg1767
revulsionary1817
tergiversated1831
tergiverse1852
tergiversatory1891
breakaway1934
walk-in1978
1831 J. Wilson in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 29 725 ‘I am liberal in my politics’, says some twenty-times tergiversated turn~coat.
ˈtergiversating n. and adj. (a) n. tergiversation, evasion; (b) adj. apostatizing, renegade; †recusant; evasive, shifty.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > reversal of or forsaking one's will or purpose > [adjective]
renayedc1380
renegate1488
regenerate?1536
runagate1549
renegantc1550
turncoat1571
relenting1576
reneged1594
renegado1612
recreant1613
tergiversating1654
renegade1664
apostate1671
tergiversant1710
blackleg1767
revulsionary1817
tergiversated1831
tergiverse1852
tergiversatory1891
breakaway1934
walk-in1978
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > reversal of or forsaking one's will or purpose > [noun] > desertion of one's party or principles
recreandisea1425
declining1526
declination1533
back-turning1535
defect1540
revoltc1576
falling off1577
apostasy1578
tergiversation1583
declension1597
recreancy1602
starting1602
recreantness1611
recession1614
turncoating1624
recreancea1632
diffidation1640
withdrawment1640
tergiversating1654
turning1665
ratting1789
renegadism1823
turncoatery1841
defection1884
turncoatism1889
1654 E. Gayton Pleasant Notes Don Quixot ii. vi. 61 That tergiversating and back-sliding Lady.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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