Word of the Day: May 26, 2009 - prevaricate

prevaricate (pri-var-i-keyt) - verb

Prevaricate means "to speak falsely or misleadingly; deliberately misstate or create an incorrect impression; lie."

First used in the written form around 1575–1585. Etymologically, prevaricate means "walk crookedly," and it goes back ultimately to a Latin adjective, varus, meaning "knock-kneed."  From this was derived the verb vāricāre, meaning "straddle," which was combined with the prefix prae- meaning "before, beyond," to produce praevāricāri ("walk crookedly"), hence deviate. This developed in English to "deviate from straightforward behavior," hence "to be evasive, equivocate."