converse

See also: Converse and conversé

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, (formal) discourse

   • 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[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv]:

     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[ohn] 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.
   • a. 1749 (date written), James Thomson, “Summer”, in The Seasons, London: […] A[ndrew] 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 something, from long talk or study.
   • 1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC:

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

Derived terms

• conversable
• conversancy
• conversation
• converseness
• conversible

Translations

to engage in conversation

Afrikaans: gesels, gesprek voer Arabic: تَحَدَّثَ (taḥaddaṯa), تَكَلَّمَ (ar) (takallama) Armenian: զրուցել (hy) (zrucʻel) Azerbaijani: söhbət etmək, qonuşmaq Belarusian: размаўля́ць impf (razmaŭljácʹ), размо́віць pf (razmóvicʹ) Bulgarian: разгова́рям (bg) impf (razgovárjam), бесе́двам (bg) impf (besédvam) Chinese: Mandarin: 通話 / 通话 (zh) (tōnghuà), 交談 / 交谈 (zh) (jiāotán), 談話 / 谈话 (zh) (tánhuà), 會話 / 会话 (zh) (huìhuà) Czech: konverzovat impf, rozmlouvat impf, hovořit (cs) impf Danish: konversere, tale (da) Dutch: converseren (nl), spreken (nl) Esperanto: interparoli, konversacii (eo) Estonian: suhtlema, vestlema (et) Finnish: keskustella (fi) French: converser (fr), parler (fr) Georgian: ბაასი (ka) (baasi), საუბარი (saubari) German: sich unterhalten (de), konversieren (de) (formal), sprechen (de), reden (de) Greek: συνομιλώ (el) (synomiló), συνδιαλέγομαι (el) (syndialégomai) Ancient: διαλέγομαι (dialégomai) ἔντευξις ποιῶ (énteuxis poiô) (+ dative) Hebrew: שׂוֹחֵחַ (he) (sokhéakh) Hindi: बात करना (bāt karnā) Hungarian: társalog (hu) Icelandic: spjalla (is), tala saman Irish: déan comhrá Italian: conversare (it), parlare (it) Japanese: 会話する (ja) (かいわする, kaiwa suru), 談話する (ja) (だんわする, danwa suru), 話す (ja) (はなす, hanasu) Kazakh: әңгімелесу (äñgımelesu), сөйлесу (kk) (söilesu) Khiamniungan Naga: thìtìe Khmer: សន្ទនា (km) (sɑntĕəʼniə) Kituba: solola, kusolola Korean: 대화하다 (ko) (daehwahada), 이야기하다 (ko) (iyagihada) Kyrgyz: аңгемелешүү (ky) (aŋgemeleşüü), сүйлөшүү (ky) (süylöşüü) Lao: ສົນທະນາ (son tha nā) Latin: colloquor (la), fabulor, sermōcinor Latvian: sarunāties Ligurian: dialogâ Lithuanian: pasikalbėti Macedonian: зборува (mk) impf (zboruva), говори impf (govori) Maori: kōwetewete, kōrerorero Norwegian: Bokmål: samtale (no), snakke (no) Ottoman Turkish: صحبت ایتمك (sohbet etmek) Persian: Iranian Persian: صُحْبَت کَرْدَن (fa) (sohbat kardan) Polish: rozmawiać (pl) impf, gwarzyć (pl) impf, konwersować impf (rare) Portuguese: conversar (pt), falar (pt) Quechua: rimachiy, yawnay Romanian: a vorbi (ro), a conversa (ro) Russian: разгова́ривать (ru) impf (razgovárivatʹ), бесе́довать (ru) impf (besédovatʹ), обща́ться (ru) impf (obščátʹsja) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: разгова́рати impf Roman: razgovárati (sh) impf Shan: ဢုပ်ႇဢူဝ်း (shn) (ʼùp ʼó) Slovak: hovoriť (sk) impf, konverzovať impf Slovene: pogovarjati se impf Sorbian: Lower Sorbian: rozgranjaś se impf Spanish: conversar (es), tertuliar (es), prosear (es), hablar (es) Swedish: konversera (sv), tala (sv) Tagalog: makipag-usap Tajik: сухбат кардан (suxbat kardan) Thai: สนทนา (th) (sǒn-tá-naa) Turkish: konuşmak (tr), söyleşmek (tr), sohbet etmek (tr), muhabbet etmek (tr) Ukrainian: розмовля́ти (uk) impf (rozmovljáty), розмо́вити pf (rozmóvyty) Urdu: بات کَرْنا (bāt karnā) Uzbek: suhbatlashmoq (uz) Vietnamese: đối thoại (vi) Welsh: ymddiddan (cy) Woiwurrung: toomcherring

Noun

converse (uncountable)

2. (now literary) Free verbal interchange of thoughts or views; conversation; chat.
   • 1727, [Edward Young], “Satire V. On Women.”, in Love of Fame, the Universal Passion. In Seven Characteristical Satires, 4th edition, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson […], published 1741, →OCLC:

     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 […]

   • 1764 December 24 (indicated as 1765), Onuphrio Muralto, translated by William Marshal [pseudonyms; Horace Walpole], chapter III, in The Castle of Otranto, […], London: […] Tho[mas] Lownds […], →OCLC, page 93:

     [R]eturn to thy maſter, and tell him, e'er vve liquidate our differences by the ſvvord, Manfred vvould hold ſome converſe vvith him.

   • 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 [pseudonym; Hector Hugh Munro], “The Disappearance of Crispina Umerleigh”, in R[othay] R[eynolds], editor, The Toys of Peace and Other Papers. […], London: John Lane, The Bodley Head […], →OCLC:

     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, →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 trout are fish, but the converse, that all fish are trout, is not true.

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

Derived terms

• conversely

Translations

opposite

Afrikaans: teenoorgestelde (af) Bulgarian: обра́тно (bg) n (obrátno) Dutch: tegenovergestelde (nl) Finnish: päinvastainen (fi) (adjective) French: opposé (fr) m, inverse (fr) m German: Gegenteil (de) n, Umkehrung f Korean: 반대 (ko) (bandae) Occitan: envèrs (oc), invèrs (oc) Russian: противоположность (ru) f (protivopoložnostʹ) Spanish: revés (es) m, contrario (es) m, conversión (es) f

proposition of the specific form

Bulgarian: обра́тна теоре́ма f (obrátna teoréma) Finnish: käänteislause, käänteinen lause, käänteinen väite French: réciproque (fr) f German: Gegenteil (de) n, Umkehrung f, Umkehrschluss m, Gegenschluss m Icelandic: andhverfing f Korean: 역 (ko) (yeok) Occitan: reciproca f Portuguese: recíproca f Spanish: recíproca (es) f, inversa (es) f, sentido inverso m

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/ [kõmˈbeɾ.se]
• Rhymes: -eɾse
• Syllabification: con‧ver‧se

Verb

converse

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