tergiversatio

Forms

tergiversātiō f (genitive tergiversātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin tergiversor (“to turn one's back, hang back”) + -tiō.^[2][1][3] De Vaan lists that verb, from Sisenna on, among the derivatives of tergum (“back”),^[4] whose own origin he considers unclear.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Cicero,^[5] who in the Pro Milone asks what reason there was for delay and hanging back (quid ergō erat morae et tergiversātiōnis?).^[6][7][8]

Semantic evolution

Cicero also writes in a letter that he approves of someone's evasion (tergiversātiōnem istam probō),^[6][7] and it occurs in the Bellum Africum and in Seneca.^[6][8] Frontinus has the plural of the many shifts by which a censorship was dragged out.^[7] In ecclesiastical Latin it meant subterfuge, evasion or refusal.^[9]

In medieval Britain it was used literally of turning one's back in flight, as by Orderic Vitalis, and of turning one's back on a task or obligation;^[10] Bede uses it of tricks and evasions.^[10] English borrowed it in the 1560s as tergiversation.^[3]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of delay and evasion.^[6][5]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it.^[8][5]
• first third of the 8th century AD – Bede uses it of tricks and evasions.^[10][5]
• 1120–1141 – Orderic Vitalis uses it of turning one's back in flight.^[10][5]
• 1560s – Borrowed into English as tergiversation.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. Hanging back, hesitation, delay.^[2][8]
2. Evasion, subterfuge, refusal.^[6][7][9]
3. (Medieval Latin) A turning of one's back, withdrawal, flight.^[10]

Related words

• tergiversor
• tergum

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
10. ^ a b c d e Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press