tergiversation

[L. tergiversario: cf. F. tergiversation.]

1. The act of tergiversating; a shifting; shift; subterfuge; evasion.

Writing is to be preferred before verbal conferences, as being freer from passions and tergiversations.

2. Fickleness of conduct; inconstancy; change.

The colonel, after all his tergiversations, lost his life in the king's service.

noun

1. An instance of defecting from or abandoning a cause: apostasy, defection, recreance, recreancy. See approach/retreat, trust/distrust.
2. The use or an instance of equivocal language: ambiguity, equivocation, equivoque, euphemism, hedge, prevarication, shuffle, weasel word. Informal waffle. See clear/unclear.
3. An expression or term liable to more than one interpretation: ambiguity, double-entendre, equivocality, equivocation, equivoque. See clear/unclear.

The noun has 2 meanings:

Meaning #1: falsification by means of vague or ambiguous language
  Synonym: equivocation

Meaning #2: the act of abandoning a party or cause
  Synonym: apostasy