double-tongued

English

Etymology

From Middle English doubultongud, dowbyl townged, dubble tungyd, equivalent to double +‎ tongued.

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Adjective

double-tongued (not comparable)

1. (idiomatic) Saying one thing to one person and something different to another; double talking; deceitful in speech.
   • 1720, [Daniel Defoe], The Life, Adventures, and Pyracies, of the Famous Captain Singleton, London: […] J[ohn] Brotherton, […], J[ohn] Graves […], A[nne] Dodd, […], and T[homas] Warner, […], →OCLC, page 279:

     Thou art but a double-tongu'd Chriſtian, I doubt: […]

Synonyms

• twi-tongued (archaic)
• two-tongued

Translations

deceitful in speech

• German: doppelzüngig (de), zweigezüngt