different between dissemble vs equivocate

English

Etymology

From Latin dissimulare.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [d??s?mb??]

Verb

dissemble (third-person singular simple present dissembles, present participle dissembling, simple past and past participle dissembled)

1. (transitive) To disguise or conceal something.
   • 1788, John Philip Kemble, The Panel

     Perhaps it was right to dissemble your love.

2. (transitive) To feign.
   • 1681, John Dryden, Absalom and Achitophel

     And like a lion, slumb'ring in the way,

     Or sleep-dissembling, while he waits his prey.

   • May 16, 1710, Isaac Bickerstaff (pseudonym for Richard Steele or (in some later numbers of the journal) Joseph Addison), The Tatler No. 172

     He soon dissembled a sleep.

3. (transitive) To deliberately ignore something; to pretend not to notice.
4. (intransitive) To falsely hide one's opinions or feelings.
   • XVII century, John Dryden, Cymon And Iphigenia; from Boccace

     While to his arms the blushing bride he took,

     To seeming sadness she composed her look;

     As if by force subjected to his will,

     Though pleased, dissembling, and a woman still.

Usage notes

Not to be confused with disassemble (take apart).

Synonyms

• (to pretend not to notice): disregard, take no notice of; see also Thesaurus:ignore

Translations

English

Alternative forms

• æquivocate (archaic)

Etymology

From Medieval Latin aequivoc?tus, perfect passive participle of aequivoc? (“I am called by the same name”), from Late Latin aequivocus (“ambiguous, equivocal”): compare French équivoquer. See equivocal.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /??kw?v??ke?t/

Verb

equivocate (third-person singular simple present equivocates, present participle equivocating, simple past and past participle equivocated)

1. (intransitive) 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.
   • 1687, Edward Stillingfleet, The Unreasonableness of Separation: Or, An Impartial Account of the History, Nature and Pleas of the Present Separation from the Communion of the Church of England

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

2. To render equivocal or ambiguous.

Synonyms

• prevaricate
• evade
• shuffle
• quibble
• dodge
• adumbrate

Translations

See also

• prevaricate

Further reading

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “equivocate”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

Italian

Verb

equivocate

1. second-person plural present indicative of equivocare
2. second-person plural imperative of equivocare
3. feminine plural of equivocato