英和和英

語源

Borrowed from Latin tergiversātus, perfect active participle of tergiversor (“to evade, to avoid, to turn one's back on”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from tergum (“back, hind”) +‎ versor (“to turn”). Compare French tergiverser.

発音

• (英国発音) IPA: /ˈtɜːd͡ʒɪvəseɪt/
• (米国発音) enPR: tər-jɪv'ər-sāt, IPA: /tɝˈd͡ʒɪvɝseɪt/

動詞

tergiversate (third-person singular simple present tergiversates, present participle tergiversating, simple past and past participle tergiversated)

1. (intransitive) To evade, to equivocate using subterfuge; to obfuscate in a deliberate manner.
   • 1999, Philip McCutchan, 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, 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.

3. (intransitive, rare) To flee by turning one's back.

同意語

• (to evade, obfuscate): prevaricate, beat around the bush
• (to change sides): desert

関連する語

参照

• “tergiversate, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022.