tergiverseadj.
/ˈtəːdʒɪvəːs/ rare.
That has turned his back or practised tergiversation; renegade; 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
1852 J. A. Roebuck Hist. Whig Ministry I. 290 (note) The tergiverse administration discovered, when too late, that they had broken the staff of their strength.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
tergiversev.
/ˈtəːdʒɪvəːs/ rare.† 1. transitive. To turn backwards, to reverse. (In quot. 1602 in participial adjective. ˈtergiversed.) Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > backward movement > cause to move back [verb (transitive)] > turn back or reverse the course of
reverse?a1439
to turn back?1531
return?1542
retrograde1582
tergiverse1602
turn1665
to roll back1695
revert1814
1602 W. Watson Decacordon Ten Quodlibeticall Questions 23 A stay made of the planets course and heauens motion, by reason that primum mobile, in a tergiuersed violence of opposite race to the rest, runs a course against the haire.
2. intransitive. = tergiversate v.
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
1675 [see tergiversing n. at Derivatives].
?1707 J. Grubb Brit. Heroes viii. 10 The Britain never tergivers'd But was for adverse Drubbing.
1718 Entertainer No. 36. 243 If they don't intirely tergiverse, and become Deserters.
Derivatives
ˈtergiversing n. tergiversation.
ΚΠ
1675 (title) Quakerism Canvassed: Robin Barclay..found guilty of blasphemy, treason, lying, shifting, quibling, tergiversing, &c.
1896 H. M. B. Reid Cameronian Apostle vii. 109 The arbitrary dissolution of one Assembly,..the ‘tergiversing’ of the Moderator and Clerk.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online June 2019).
<
adj.1852v.1602