Word of the Day for Wednesday July 24, 2002:
equivocate \ih-KWIV-uh-kayt\, intransitive verb:
To be deliberately ambiguous or unclear in order to mislead or
to avoid committing oneself to anything definite.
The witness shuffled, equivocated, pretended to
misunderstand the questions.
--Thomas Babington Macaulay, History of England
By equivocating, hesitating, and giving ambiguous answers,
she effected her purpose.
--Harriet Martineau, Letters from Ireland
Dr. Lindzen does not equivocate. "We don't have any
evidence that this is a serious problem," he says flatly.
--William K. Stevens, "Skeptic Asks, Is It Really Warmer?"
[1]New York Times, June 17, 1996
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Equivocate is from Medieval Latin aequivocare, "to be called
by the same name," from Latin aequus, "equal" + vocare, "to
call," from vox, "voice." |
