Meaning

noun a statement that is not literally false but that cleverly avoids an unpleasant truth

noun intentionally vague or ambiguous

noun falsification by means of vague or ambiguous language

originc. 1380, from Middle English equivocacion, from Old French equivocation, from Medieval Latin aequivocātiō, from aequivocō, from Late Latin aequivocus (“ambiguous, equivocal”), from Latin aequus (“equal”) + vocō (“call”); a calque of Ancient Greek ὁμωνυμία (homōnumía).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0