Etymologically
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evasion

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Pronunciation

  • /ɪˈveɪʒən/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English evasioun,[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French evasion and directly borrowed from Late Latin ēvāsiō (“a going out, escape”),[5][3][6][4][7] a noun of action from ēvāsus, the past participle of ēvādō (“to escape, go out”),[3][5][7] which is formed from ex- (“away”) and vādō (“to go, walk”).[5] The OED gives the immediate source as French évasion,[8] Barnhart as Middle French,[6] and Collins takes the word straight from Late Latin.[9] The Anglo-Norman evasioun is recorded from the late 13th century, meaning escape and also a subterfuge or trick.[10] The same Latin verb gave evade, and Klein compares invasion and pervasion.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A means of evading; an evasive argument or excuse: about 1425, in Andrew of Wyntoun's Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland.[8] The Oxford Dictionary of English likewise gives "prevaricating excuse" as the first sense,[11] while Etymonline has "a way out, expedient" in the early 15th century.[5] The Middle English Dictionary has the word in a surgical text of about 1425, glossed "escaping".[2]

Semantic evolution

The sense "escape from confinement or danger", close to the Latin, is recorded from before 1464, in Capgrave's chronicle,[8][2] while the sense "a way or opportunity of escape" lasted from before 1555 to 1736.[8] Shakespeare's Measure for Measure (before 1616) has the first record of evading a duty, law or argument, the sense of dodging and prevarication that became the main one;[8] by 1657 it was also used of avoiding a blow or pursuit by some contrivance.[8] The literal Latin sense, going out or sallying forth, was revived in rare use from before 1659.[8] Johnson (1755) gave only the sense "excuse; subterfuge; sophistry; artifice; artful means of eluding or escaping", with quotations from Shakespeare and Milton.[12] Today the word is most often met in tax evasion, the illegal avoidance of a duty.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 1425 – a means of evading; an evasive excuse.[8][6]
  • c. 1425 – escaping, in a surgical text.[2]
  • before 1464 – escape from confinement or danger.[8][2]
  • before 1555 – a means or way of escape (obsolete by 1736).[8]
  • before 1616 – the evading of a duty, law or argument; prevarication.[8]
  • 1657 – avoiding a blow or pursuit by a trick.[8]
  • before 1659 – going out, a sally (rare).[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The act of avoiding something, especially a duty or a payment, by trickery or illegal means: tax evasion.[9][4][8]
  2. Deliberate avoidance of a direct answer; equivocation or prevarication: Her replies were a string of evasions.[9][8]
  3. A means of evading; an evasive argument or subterfuge.[9][8][13]
  4. Physical escape or flight.[4][8]

Word family

  • evasional
  • nonevasion
  • tax evasion

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  7. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  11. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  13. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press