tergiversation Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun falsification by means of vague or ambiguous language
    equivocation.
  2. noun the act of abandoning a party for cause
    apostasy.

WordNet

Ter`gi*ver*sa"tion noun
Etymology
L. tergiversario: cf. F. tergiversation.
Definitions
  1. The act of tergiversating; a shifting; shift; subterfuge; evasion.
    Writing is to be preferred before verbal conferences, as being freer from passions and tergiversations. Abp. Bramhall.
  2. Fickleness of conduct; inconstancy; change.
    The colonel, after all his tergiversations, lost his life in the king's service. Clarendon.

Webster 1913