prevaricate (v.)

1580s, "to go aside from the right course or mode of action" (originally figurative, now obsolete), a back formation from prevarication or else from Latin praevaricatus, past participle of praevaricari "to make a sham accusation, deviate" (from the path of duty), literally "walk crookedly;" in Church Latin, "to transgress." The meaning "to act or speak evasively, swerve from the truth" is from 1630s. Related: Prevaricated; prevaricating.