I. con ‧ verse 1 /kənˈvɜːs $ -ˈvɜːrs/ BrE AmE verb [intransitive] formal
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: converser , from Latin conversari 'to live with, be with' , from convertere ; ⇨ ↑ convert 1 ]
to have a conversation with someone SYN talk
converse with
She enjoyed the chance to converse with another French speaker.
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THESAURUS
■ to talk about everyday things
▪ have a conversation to talk to someone for a long time about everyday things:
She was having a conversation with one of her friends.
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When I arrived, Joe and Jane were deep in conversation (=very involved in a conversation) .
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I can order food in a restaurant in French, but not have a conversation.
▪ chat/have a chat informal to have a friendly informal conversation about things that are not very important:
The girls were chatting outside the house.
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It’s been nice having a chat with you.
▪ gossip to talk about other people’s private lives when they are not there, especially about things that you have heard, which are not completely true:
What are you two gossiping about?
▪ visit with somebody American English informal to have a conversation with someone:
I visited with him last week.
▪ converse formal to have a conversation with someone:
We met once and conversed briefly.
II. con ‧ verse 2 /ˈkɒnvɜːs $ ˈkɑːnvɜːrs/ BrE AmE noun formal
the converse the converse of a fact, word, statement etc is the opposite of it:
Some teachers welcomed the change; but for the majority of teachers, the converse was true.
III. con ‧ verse 3 AC /ˈkɒnvɜːs $ kənˈvɜːrs/ BrE AmE adjective formal
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Latin ; Origin: past participle of convertere ; ⇨ ↑ convert 1 ]
opposite:
a converse example