converse

English

Etymology 1

From Old French converser, from Latin conversor (“live, have dealings with”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kənˈvɜːs/
• (US) enPR: kənvûrs', IPA^(key): /kənˈvɝs/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)s

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

Verb

converse (third-person singular simple present converses, present participle conversing, simple past and past participle conversed)

1. (formal, intransitive) To talk; to engage in conversation.

   Synonyms: (nonstandard) conversate, (informal) convo

   • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     Companions […]
     That do converse and waste the time together.

   • 1695, C[harles] A[lphonse] du Fresnoy, translated by John Dryden, De Arte Graphica. The Art of Painting, , London: J Heptinstall for W. Rogers, , →OCLC:

     We had conversed so often on that subject.

2. (followed by with) To keep company; to hold intimate intercourse; to commune.
   • 1727, James Thomson, “Summer”, in The Seasons, London: A Millar, and sold by Thomas Cadell, , published 1768, →OCLC:

     To seek the distant hills, and there converse
     With nature.

   • 1814, William Wordsworth, The Excursion:

     But to converse with heaven — This is not easy.

   • 1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, Ivanhoe; a Romance. , volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. , →OCLC:

     Conversing with the world, we use the world's fashions.

3. (obsolete) To have knowledge of (a thing), from long intercourse or study.
   • 1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. , London: Eliz Holt, for Thomas Basset, , →OCLC:

     according as the objects they converse with afford greater or less variety

Derived terms

• conversation

Translations

Noun

converse

2. (now literary) Free verbal interchange of thoughts or views; conversation; chat.
   • 1728, Edward Young, Love of Fame, the Universal Passion, Satire V, On Women, lines 44-46:

     Twice ere the sun descends, with zeal inspir'd, / From the vain converse of the world retir'd, / She reads the psalms and chapters for the day

   • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVI, in Francesca Carrara. , volume I, London: Richard Bentley, , (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 177:

     She had around her gay converse, in which she had no share; and laughter, in which she was little tempted to join.

   • 1919, Saki, ‘The Disappearance of Crispina Umerleigh’, The Toys of Peace, Penguin 2000 (Complete Short Stories), p. 405:

     In a first-class carriage of a train speeding Balkanward across the flat, green Hungarian plain, two Britons sat in friendly, fitful converse.

   • 1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1965, →OCLC, page 26:

     [S]uch was the aberration of mind attending converse with a successful draper.

Etymology 2

From Latin conversus (“turned around”), past participle of converto (“turn about”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒnvɜːs/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• (US) enPR: kŏn'vûrs, IPA^(key): /ˈkɑnvɝs/

Adjective

converse (not comparable)

1. Opposite; reversed in order or relation; reciprocal.

   a converse proposition

Noun

converse (plural converses)

1. The opposite or reverse.
2. (logic) Of a proposition or theorem consisting of a statement of the form "If A is true, then B is true", the statement "If B is true, then A is true" which need not be equivalent to the first one.

   All trees are plants, but the converse, that all plants are trees, is not true.

4. (semantics) One of a pair of terms that name or describe a relationship from opposite perspectives; converse antonym; relational antonym.

Derived terms

• conversely

Translations

Anagrams

• Cervones, conserve, coveners, encovers

French

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

converse f sg

1. feminine singular of convers

Verb

converse

1. inflection of converser:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Galician

Verb

converse

1. inflection of conversar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Italian

Alternative forms

• convergé (rare)

Verb

converse

1. third-person singular past historic of convergere

Anagrams

• conserve, scernevo

Latin

Participle

converse

1. vocative masculine singular of conversus

Portuguese

Verb

converse

1. inflection of conversar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /komˈbeɾse/
• Rhymes: -eɾse
• Syllabification: con‧ver‧se

Verb

converse

1. inflection of conversar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative