Pronunciation
- (RP) IPA: /ˌkɒn.vəˈseɪ.ʃən/, [ˌkʰɒɱ.vəˈseɪ.ʃn̩]
- (America) IPA: /ˌkɑn.vəɹˈseɪ.ʃən/, [ˌkʰɑɱ.vɚˈseɪ.ʃn̩]
conversation
- Expression and exchange of individual ideas through talking with other people; also, a set instance or occasion of such talking. [from 16th c.]
- Synonyms: banter, chat, chinwag, dialogue, discussion, interlocution, powwow, table talk
- I had an interesting conversation with Nicolas yesterday about how much he's getting paid.
- 1699, Sir William Temple, 1st Baronet, Heads designed for an essay on conversations ↗
- Study gives strength to the mind; conversation, grace: the first apt to give stiffness, the other suppleness: one gives substance and form to the statue, the other polishes it.
- (fencing) The back-and-forth play of the blades in a bout.
- (computing, networking) The protocol-based interaction between systems processing a transaction. [from 20th c.]
- (obsolete) Interaction; commerce or intercourse with other people; dealing with others. [14th-18th c.]
- [1526], [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamēt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], OCLC 762018299 ↗; republished as The New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ: Published in 1526. […], London: Samuel Bagster, […], 1836, OCLC 679500256 ↗, Acts XI:
- Yt chaunsed thatt a whole yere they had their conversacion with the congregacion there, and taught moche people insomoche thatt the disciples off Antioche we the fyrst that wer called Christen.
- (archaic) Behaviour, the way one conducts oneself; a person's way of life. [from 14th c.]
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981 ↗, Hebrews 13:5 ↗:
- Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
- 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, OCLC 54573970 ↗:
- There are many that take no heed what happeneth to others by bad conversation, and therefore overthrow themselves in the same manner through their own fault, not foreseeing dangers manifest.
- 1748, Samuel Richardson, Clarissa, Letter 27:
- I have desired him to inquire after Lovelace's life and conversation in town.
- (obsolete) Sexual intercourse. [16th-19th c.]
- Synonyms: Thesaurus:copulation
- 1723, Charles Walker, Memoirs of the Life of Sally Salisbury:
- smallcaps Ariadne […] quitted her Lover smallcaps Theseus, for the tumultuous Conversation of smallcaps Bacchus.
- 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, Folio Society 1973, p. 333:
- The landlady therefore would by no means have admitted any conversation of a disreputable kind to pass under her roof.
- (obsolete) Engagement with a specific subject, idea, field of study etc. [16th–18th c.]
- Synonyms: understanding, familiarity
- 1570, John Dee, in H. Billingsley (trans.) Euclid, Elements of Geometry, Preface:
- So grosse is our conuersation, and dull is our apprehension: while mortall Sense, in vs, ruleth the common wealth of our litle world.
- French: conversation
- German: Gespräch, Unterhaltung, Konversation
- Italian: conversazione, dialogo, discorso
- Portuguese: conversa, conversação
- Russian: разгово́р
- Spanish: conversación
conversation (conversations, present participle conversationing; past and past participle conversationed)
- (nonstandard, ambitransitive) To engage in conversation (with).
- 1983, James Frederick Mason, Hélène Joséphine Harvitt, The French review
- Gone now are the "high-minded" style, the "adapted from literature" feel, the voice-over narration, and the abstract conversationing about ideas, values...
- 1983, James Frederick Mason, Hélène Joséphine Harvitt, The French review
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