Emily Dickinson Lexicon

E-QUIV'O-CATE, v.i. [It. equivocare; Fr. equivoquer. See Equivocal.]

To use words of a doubtful signification; to express one's opinions in terms which admit of different senses; to use ambiguous expressions. To equivocate is the dishonorable work of duplicity. The upright man will not equivocate in his intercourse with his fellow men.