English → Latin
“prevaricate” in Latin
praevāricorto walk crookedly, to not walk straight; to step out of line, deviate, transgress; to collude, prevaricate, play a doubltergiversorto seek an evasion, to tergiversate
The English word prevaricate itself goes back to Latin vāricus, through praevāricātus.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
prevaricate
praevaricari; praevaricari et colludere (Cic.): ☞ praevaricari is to defend or accuse a person in a collusive manner: tergiversari or huc illuc tergiversari (to seek evasions to escape from the necessity of giving a straightforward answer): *secum pugnantia respondere (to give contradictory answers).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for prevaricate?
- The usual Latin words for “prevaricate” are praevāricor, tergiversor. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.