Tergivers

Part of speech: verb, noun

Definitions

1. Avoids giving a direct answer or commits to a position ; forsakes or betrays a person or cause
2. To equivocate or hedge when pressed for clarity ; to renounce or desert someone or something
3. To evade commitment through ambiguous language or evasion ; to turn away from or abandon a loyalty or obligation

Etymology: In Latin, "tergiversari" was a physical action: "tergum" meant "back," and "versari" meant "to turn about." To tergiversate was literally to turn one's back, whether to flee or to refuse to face something. The figurative senses grew from that gesture. The Latin verb came to mean deserting a cause, changing sides, or hedging, and English kept these senses. Someone who tergiversates may abandon a position they once held or dodge a direct answer by shifting ground. The word's root, "vertere," "to turn," is the same one behind "versus," "converse," and "verse."