converse

• POS: Adjective, Noun, Verb (usu participle), Verb (intransitive)
• HYPHEN: Con=verse

CIDE DICTIONARY

converse, v. i. [F. converser, L. conversari to associate with; con- + versari to be turned, to live, remain, fr. versare to turn often, v. intens. of vertere to turn See Convert.].

•  To keep company; to hold intimate intercourse; to commune; -- followed by with.  [1913 Webster]

  "To seek the distant hills, and there converse
  With nature."  [1913 Webster]

  "Conversing with the world, we use the world's fashions."  [1913 Webster]

  "But to converse with heaven -
  This is not easy."  [1913 Webster]
•  To engage in familiar colloquy; to interchange thoughts and opinions in a free, informal manner; to chat; -- followed by with before a person; by on, about, concerning, etc., before a thing.  [1913 Webster]

  "Companions
  That do converse and waste the time together."  [1913 Webster]

  "We had conversed so often on that subject."  [1913 Webster]
•  To have knowledge of, from long intercourse or study; -- said of things.  [1913 Webster]

  "According as the objects they converse with afford greater or less variety."

Syn. -- To associate; commune; discourse; talk; chat.

converse, n. 

•  Frequent intercourse; familiar communion; intimate association.  Glanvill.  [1913 Webster]

  "“T is but to hold
  Converse with Nature's charms, and view her stores unrolled."  [1913 Webster]
•  Familiar discourse; free interchange of thoughts or views; conversation; chat.  [1913 Webster]

  "Formed by thy converse happily to steer
  From grave to gay, from lively to severe."  [1913 Webster]

converse, a. [L. conversus, p. p. of convertere. See Convert.].

 Turned about; reversed in order or relation; reciprocal; as, a converse proposition.  [1913 Webster]

converse, n. 

•  A proposition which arises from interchanging the terms of another, as by putting the predicate for the subject, and the subject for the predicate; as, no virtue is vice, no vice is virtue.  [1913 Webster]

  " It should not (as is often done) be confounded with the contrary or opposite of a proposition, which is formed by introducing the negative not or no."  [1913 Webster]
•  A proposition in which, after a conclusion from something supposed has been drawn, the order is inverted, making the conclusion the supposition or premises, what was first supposed becoming now the conclusion or inference. Thus, if two sides of a sides of a triangle are equal, the angles opposite the sides are equal; and the converse is true, i.e., if these angles are equal, the two sides are equal.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

converse, v. & n.
--v.intr. (often foll. by with) engage in conversation (conversed with him about various subjects).
--n. archaic conversation.

Derivative

converser n.

converse, adj. & n.
--adj. opposite, contrary, reversed.
--n.
1 something that is opposite or contrary.
2 a statement formed from another statement by the transposition of certain words, e.g. some philosophers are men from some men are philosophers.
3 Math. a theorem whose hypothesis and conclusion are the conclusion and hypothesis of another.

Derivative

conversely adv.

Etymology

L conversus, past part. of convertere (CONVERT)

THESAURUS

converse

ESP, adversative, adverse, adversive, answer, antagonistic, anti, antipathetic, antipodal, antipode, antipodean, antipodes, antipole, antithesis, antithetic, antithetical, antonym, antonymous, at cross-purposes, balancing, bandy words, be in connection, be in contact, chat, chatter, chew the fat, chew the rag, chin, clashing, collegiality, colloque, colloquial discourse, colloquize, colloquy, commerce, commerce with, commune with, communicate, communicate with, communication, communion, community, compensating, confab, confabulate, confabulation, conflicting, confronting, congress, connection, contact, contra, contradictory, contradistinct, contrapositive, contrarious, contrary, contrasted, conversation, converse with, conversing, correspondence, counter, counterbalance, counterbalancing, countercheck, counterpoint, counterpoise, counterpoised, counterpole, counterterm, countervailing, dead against, deal with, dealing, dealings, declaim, dialogue, discordant, discourse, discourse with, discrepant, discuss, exchange, eyeball to eyeball, eyeball-to-eyeball, facing, fellowship, foil, gab, give-and-take, gossip, have dealings with, have intercourse, have truck with, heads, hold communication, hostile, inconsistent, information, inimical, interaction, interchange, intercommunicate, intercommunication, intercommunion, intercourse, interlocution, interplay, inverse, linguistic intercourse, message, mouth, obverse, offset, opposed, opposing, opposite, opposite number, opposite side, oppositional, oppositive, oppugnant, other face, other side, parley, patter, perverse, polar, polaric, polarized, rapping, reply, repugnant, response, reverse, setoff, shoot the breeze, social activity, social intercourse, social relations, speak, speak with, speaking, speech, speech circuit, speech situation, squared off, tails, take counsel with, talk, talk together, talking, telepathy, the contrary, the other side, touch, traffic, traffic with, truck, two-way communication, verbal intercourse, vis-a-vis, visit, visit with, wag the tongue, yarn

ROGET THESAURUS

converse

Conversation

N conversation, interlocution, collocution, colloquy, converse, confabulation, talk, discourse, verbal intercourse, oral communication, commerce, dialogue, duologue, trialogue, causerie, chat, chitchat, small talk, table talk, teatable talk, town talk, village talk, idle talk, tattle, gossip, tittle-tattle, babble, babblement, tripotage, cackle, prittle-prattle, cancan, on dit, talk of the town, talk of the village, conference, parley, interview, audience, pourparler, tete-a-tete, reception, conversazione, congress, powwow, hall of audience, durbar, palaver, debate, logomachy, war of words, gossip, tattler, Paul Pry, tabby, chatterer, interlocutor, conversationist, dialogist, the feast of reason and the flow of soul, mollia tempora fandi, conversing, interlocutory, conversational, conversable, discursive, discoursive, chatty, colloquial, with thee conversing I forget all time.

VB talk together, converse, confabulate, hold on a conversation, carry on a conversation, join in a conversation, engage in a conversation, put in a word, shine in conversation, bandy words, parley, palaver, chat, gossip, tattle, prate, powwow, discourse with, confer with, commune with, commerce with, hold converse, hold conference, hold intercourse, talk it over, be closeted with, talk with one in private, tete-a-tete.

Contrariety

N contrariety, contrast, foil, antithesis, oppositeness, contradiction, antagonism, clashing, repugnance, inversion, the opposite, the reverse, the inverse, the converse, the antipodes, the antithesis, the other extreme, contrary, contrarious, contrariant, opposite, counter, dead against, converse, reverse, opposed, antithetical, contrasted, antipodean, antagonistic, opposing, conflicting, inconsistent, contradictory, at cross purposes, negative, hostile, differing toto coelo, diametrically opposite, diametrically opposed, as opposite as black and white, as opposite as light and darkness, as opposite as fire and water, as opposite as the poles, as different as night and day, Hyperion to a satyr, quite the contrary, quite the reverse, no such thing, just the other way, tout au contraire, contrarily, contra, contrariwise, per contra, on the contrary, nay rather, vice versa, on the other hand, all concord's born of contraries, Thesis, antithesis, synthesis.

Contraposition

N contraposition, opposition, polarity, inversion, opposite side, reverse, inverse, counterpart, antipodes, opposite poles, North and South, antonym, opposite (contrariety), opposite, reverse, inverse, converse, antipodal, subcontrary, fronting, facing, diametrically opposite, Northern, septentrional, Boreal, arctic, Southern, Austral, antarctic, over, over the way, over against, against, face to face, vis-a- vis, as poles asunder.