equivocation vs cavil

equivocation and cavil both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
equivocation	Yes	No	No	No
cavil	Yes	No	Yes	No

As nouns, cavil is a hyponym of equivocation; that is, cavil is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than equivocation:

equivocation: a statement that is not literally false but that cleverly avoids an unpleasant truth
cavil: an evasion of the point of an argument by raising irrelevant distinctions or objections

Other hyponyms of equivocation include circumlocution, indirect expression, doublespeak, hedge, hedging, quibble, quiddity.

equivocation (noun)	cavil (noun)
falsification by means of vague or ambiguous language	an evasion of the point of an argument by raising irrelevant distinctions or objections
intentionally vague or ambiguous
a statement that is not literally false but that cleverly avoids an unpleasant truth

equivocation (verb)	cavil (verb)
	raise trivial objections