12 results for: equivocal

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

e·quiv·o·cal

Audio Help [i-kwiv-uh-kuh

–adjective

1.	allowing the possibility of several different meanings, as a word or phrase, esp. with intent to deceive or misguide; susceptible of double interpretation; deliberately ambiguous: an equivocal answer.

2.	of doubtful nature or character; questionable; dubious; suspicious: aliens of equivocal loyalty.

3.	of uncertain significance; not determined: an equivocal attitude.

[Origin: 1375–1425; late ME equivoc (< LL aequivocus ambiguous, equiv. to L aequi- equi- + vōc-, s. of vōx vox + -us adj. suffix) + -al¹

]

—Related forms

e·quiv·o·cal·i·ty, e·quiv·o·ca·cy

Audio Help [i-kwiv-uh-kuh-see] Pronunciation Key, noun

e·quiv·o·cal·ly, adverb

e·quiv·o·cal·ness, noun

—Synonyms 1. See ambiguous.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
equivocal

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

e·quiv·o·cal Audio Help (ĭ-kwĭv'ə-kəl) Pronunciation Key
adj.

Open to two or more interpretations and often intended to mislead; ambiguous. See Synonyms at ambiguous.
Of uncertain significance.
Of a doubtful or uncertain nature.

[From Late Latin aequivocus : Latin aequi-, equi- + Latin vocāre, to call; see wek^w- in Indo-European roots.]

e·quiv'o·cal'i·ty (-kāl'ĭ-tē), e·quiv'o·cal·ness n., e·quiv'o·cal·ly adv.

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

equivocal
adjective
1.	open to two or more interpretations; or of uncertain nature or significance; or (often) intended to mislead; "an equivocal statement"; "the polling had a complex and equivocal (or ambiguous) message for potential female candidates"; "the officer's equivocal behavior increased the victim's uneasiness"; "popularity is an equivocal crown"; "an equivocal response to an embarrassing question" [ant: unambiguous]
2.	open to question; "aliens of equivocal loyalty"; "his conscience reproached him with the equivocal character of the union into which he had forced his son"-Anna Jameson
3.	uncertain as a sign or indication; "the evidence from bacteriologic analysis was equivocal"

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Equivocal

Am*big"u*ous\, a. [L. ambiguus, fr. ambigere to wander about, waver; amb- + agere to drive.] Doubtful or uncertain, particularly in respect to signification; capable of being understood in either of two or more possible senses; equivocal; as, an ambiguous course; an ambiguous expression.

What have been thy answers? What but dark, Ambiguous, and with double sense deluding? --Milton.

Syn: Doubtful; dubious; uncertain; unsettled; indistinct; indeterminate; indefinite. See Equivocal.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Equivocal

E*quiv"o*cal\, a. [L. aequivocus: aequus equal + vox, vocis, word. See Equal, and Voice, and cf. Equivoque.]

1. (Literally, called equally one thing or the other; hence:) Having two significations equally applicable; capable of double interpretation; of doubtful meaning; ambiguous; uncertain; as, equivocal words; an equivocal sentence.

For the beauties of Shakespeare are not of so dim or equivocal a nature as to be visible only to learned eyes. --Jeffrey.

2. Capable of being ascribed to different motives, or of signifying opposite feelings, purposes, or characters; deserving to be suspected; as, his actions are equivocal. "Equivocal repentances." --Milton.

3. Uncertain, as an indication or sign; doubtful. "How equivocal a test." --Burke.

Equivocal chord (Mus.), a chord which can be resolved into several distinct keys; one whose intervals, being all minor thirds, do not clearly indicate its fundamental tone or root; the chord of the diminished triad, and the diminished seventh.

Syn: Ambiguous; doubtful; uncertain; indeterminate.

Usage: Equivocal, Ambiguous. We call an expression ambiguous when it has one general meaning, and yet contains certain words which may be taken in two different senses; or certain clauses which can be so connected with other clauses as to divide the mind between different views of part of the meaning intended. We call an expression equivocal when, taken as a whole, it conveys a given thought with perfect clearness and propriety, and also another thought with equal propriety and clearness. Such were the responses often given by the Delphic oracle; as that to Cr?sus when consulting about a war with Persia: "If you cross the Halys, you will destroy a great empire." This he applied to the Persian empire, which lay beyond that river, and, having crossed, destroyed his own, empire in the conflict. What is ambiguous is a mere blunder of language; what is equivocal is usually intended to deceive, though it may occur at times from mere inadvertence. Equivocation is applied only to cases where there is a design to deceive.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Equivocal

E*quiv"o*cal\, a. [L. aequivocus: aequus equal + vox, vocis, word. See Equal, and Voice, and cf. Equivoque.]

For the beauties of Shakespeare are not of so dim or equivocal a nature as to be visible only to learned eyes. --Jeffrey.

3. Uncertain, as an indication or sign; doubtful. "How equivocal a test." --Burke.

Syn: Ambiguous; doubtful; uncertain; indeterminate.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Equivocal

E*quiv"o*cal\, n. A word or expression capable of different meanings; an ambiguous term; an equivoque.

In languages of great ductility, equivocals like that just referred to are rarely found. --Fitzed. Hall.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Equivocal

E*quiv"o*cate\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Equivocated; p. pr. & vb. n. Equivocating.] [L. aequivocatus, p. p. of aequivocari to be called by the same name, fr. L. aequivocus: cf. F. ['e]quivoquer. See Equivocal, a.] To use words of equivocal or doubtful signification; to express one's opinions in terms which admit of different senses, with intent to deceive; to use ambiguous expressions with a view to mislead; as, to equivocate is the work of duplicity.

All that Garnet had to say for him was that he supposed he meant to equivocate. --Bp. Stillingfleet.

Syn: To prevaricate; evade; shuffle; quibble. See Prevaricate.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Equivocal

E*quiv`o*ca"tion\, n. The use of expressions susceptible of a double signification, with a purpose to mislead.

There being no room for equivocations, there is no need of distinctions. --Locke.

Syn: Prevarication; ambiguity; shuffling; evasion; guibbling. See Equivocal, a., and Prevaricate, v. i.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Equivocal

Eq"ui*voque\, Equivoke \Eq"ui*voke\, n. [F. ['e]quivoque. See Equivocal.]

1. An ambiguous term; a word susceptible of different significations. --Coleridge.

2. An equivocation; a guibble. --B. Jonson.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

equivocal

U*niv"o*cal\, a. [L. univocus; unus one + vox, vocis, a voice, word. See One, and Voice.]

1. Having one meaning only; -- contrasted with equivocal.

2. Having unison of sound, as the octave in music. See Unison, n., 2.

3. Having always the same drift or tenor; uniform; certain; regular. [R.] --Sir T. Browne.

4. Unequivocal; indubitable. [Obs.] --Jer. Taylor.

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