- the act or an instance of equivocating
- a fallacy based on the use of the same term in different senses, esp as the middle term of a syllogism, as the badger lives in the bank, and the bank is in the High Street, so the badger lives in the High Street
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
e•quiv•o•ca•tion
(i kwiv′ə kā′shən),USA pronunciation n.
- the use of equivocal or ambiguous expressions, esp. in order to mislead or hedge;
prevarication. - an equivocal, ambiguous expression;
equivoque:The speech was marked by elaborate equivocations. - Philosophy[Logic.]a fallacy caused by the double meaning of a word.
- Late Latin aequivocātiōn- (stem of aequivocātiō). See equivocate, -ion
- Middle English equivocacion 1350–1400
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
equivocation /ɪˌkwɪvəˈkeɪʃən/ n
e•quiv•o•cate /ɪˈkwɪvəˌkeɪt/USA pronunciation
v. [no object], -cat•ed, -cat•ing.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- to use ambiguous or unclear expressions, usually to mislead or to avoid commitment.
e•quiv•o•cate
(i kwiv′ə kāt′),USA pronunciation v.i., -cat•ed, -cat•ing.
e•quiv′o•cat′ing•ly, adv.
e•quiv′o•ca′tor, n.
- to use ambiguous or unclear expressions, usually to avoid commitment or in order to mislead;
prevaricate or hedge:When asked directly for his position on disarmament, the candidate only equivocated.
- Medieval Latin aequivocātus, past participle of aequivocāre; see equivocal, -ate1
- late Middle English 1375–1425
e•quiv′o•ca′tor, n.
- evade, stall, dodge.
'equivocation' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
buy
- quibble
- weasel words
- ambiguity
- clearly
- either-or
- evasion
- foursquare
- Jesuitical
- Jesuitism