Definition of "converse"

converse¹

/kənˈvɜːs/

verb
third-person singular simple present converses, present participle conversing, simple past and past participle conversed
1. (formal, intransitive) To talk; to engage in conversation.
  Quotations
  Companions […] That do converse and waste the time together.
  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, [Act III, scene iv]
  We had conversed so often on that subject.
  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, […]
2. (followed by with) To keep company; to hold intimate intercourse; to commune.
  Quotations
  To seek the distant hills, and there converse With nature.
  1727, James Thomson, “Summer”, in The Seasons, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, and sold by Thomas Cadell, […], published 1768
  But to converse with heaven — This is not easy.
  1814, William Wordsworth, The Excursion
  Conversing with the world, we use the world's fashions.
  1820, Walter Scott, Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […]
3. (obsolete) To have knowledge of (a thing), from long intercourse or study.
  Quotations
  according as the objects they converse with afford greater or less variety
  1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […]
noun
1. (now literary) Free verbal interchange of thoughts or views; conversation; chat.
  Quotations
  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 […]
  1728, Edward Young, Love of Fame, the Universal Passion, Satire V, On Women, lines 44-46
  She had around her gay converse, in which she had no share; and laughter, in which she was little tempted to join.
  1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVI, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), page 177
  In a first-class carriage of a train speeding Balkanward across the flat, green Hungarian plain, two Britons sat in friendly, fitful converse.
  1919, Saki, ‘The Disappearance of Crispina Umerleigh’, The Toys of Peace, Penguin 2000 (Complete Short Stories), p. 405
  [S]uch was the aberration of mind attending converse with a successful draper.
  1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1965, page 26

converse²

/ˈkɒnvɜːs/

adjective
not comparable
1. Opposite; reversed in order or relation; reciprocal.
noun
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.
3. (semantics) One of a pair of terms that name or describe a relationship from opposite perspectives; converse antonym; relational antonym.

Definition of "converse"

converse1

verb

Quotations

Quotations

Quotations

noun

Quotations

converse2

adjective

noun

converse¹

converse²