Meanings
comparative more equivoque · superlative most equivoque · alternative archaic equivoke
- obsoleteEquivocal.
plural equivoques · alternative archaic equivoke
- obsoleteA homonym.
- A play on words, a pun.
[H]e sported in many other æquivoques of the same nature; and at dinner told the physician, that he was like the root of the tongue, as being cursedly down in the mouth.
1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC - Ambiguity or double meaning.
[T]he black wisps of women bargaining behind those veils might turn out to be the ballet and coalesce in some dance gaily admitting their equivoque of concealing and proclaiming their sex.
1942, Rebecca West, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, Canongate, published 2006, page 648
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Latinaequus“equal”
- Late Latinaequivocus“ambiguous, equivocal”
- Englishequivoque
From Late Latin aequivocus (“ambiguous, equivocal”), from Latin aequus (“equal”) + vocō (“call”).
More words from Late Latin, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
equivoque. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/equivoque
“equivoque.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/equivoque. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “equivoque,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/equivoque.
Source: equivoque on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.