TERGIVERSANT ADJ. tergiversating, shuffling, evasive, shifty ...1710 NOUN one who tergiversates; a turncoat, a renegade ...1833 ETYMOLOGY from Latin tergiversānt-em, present participle of tergiversārī (to turn one's back, to shuffle, to practise evasion) FIRST DOCUMENTED USE 1710 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "...And with this regard the Fourth, not yet reaching the Nature of the Fifth or the Love-Concord, bears a peculiar Analogy to the Case of a Future Bride, but yet under her First Courtship, and at first Opposite Recusant and Tergiversant, till by orderly Process she may become round upon again with full Advantage and be obtain'd with full Consent in Union and Accord of Love..." From: The British Apollo, or, Curious Amusements for the Ingenious, To which are Added the most Material Occurrences Foreign and Domestick. From Wednesday May 3d. to Friday May 5th, 1710.
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