I. kənˈvərs, -və̄s, -vəis verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English conversen, from Middle French converser, from Latin conversari to associate with, from conversare to turn often, freq. of convertere to turn around — more at convert
intransitive verb
1. obsolete : to move about, live, or dwell especially in a place
impurities … contracted by conversing to and fro in a defiling world — Robert Boyle
2. obsolete : to have sexual intercourse
3. archaic : to become occupied or engaged (as with a subject) : have acquaintance or familiarity from long intercourse or study
he had … conversed so much with money — Henry Fielding
4. obsolete : to have dealings : associate (as with another)
to seek the distant hills and there converse with nature — James Thomson †1748
Indians … conversed with the islands near them — Daniel Defoe
5. : to engage in conversation : exchange thoughts and opinions in speech : talk
they conversed like gentlemen, about the racing season, the hunting, the new roads — Stark Young
transitive verb
obsolete : to associate or hold conversation with
Synonyms: see speak
II. ˈkänˌv- noun
( -s )
1. obsolete
a. : intimate association : social intercourse
b. : conversation 1e
c. : conversation 1c
2. : familiar discourse : free exchange of thoughts or views : talk
a freedom to resolve difference by converse — Julian Huxley
some perception of the … intimate converse between instructor and student — Allen Johnson
3. obsolete : sexual intercourse : conversation 2
III. kənˈv-, (ˈ)kän|v- adjective
Etymology: Latin conversus, past participle of convertere
: turned about : reversed in order or relation : acting oppositely or contrarily
deduction … runs not from the indubitable data to one's theoretical conclusions, but in the converse direction, from the theory back to the facts — F.S.C.Northrop
: that is the converse of something : with the principal terms transposed
Socrates, while he said that the true tragic writer was also an artist in comedy, did not lay down the converse proposition that the true comic writer is also an artist in tragedy — Samuel Alexander
• con·verse·ly adverb
IV. ˈkänˌv- noun
( -s )
1. : something related to something else in a way that is turned about in order, its statement being derived from that of the other by transposing two principal or antithetical terms
“a rainy day and a clear night” is the converse of “a clear day and a rainy night”
as
a. : a theorem formed by the interchange of hypothesis and conclusion in a given theorem
b. : a proposition in logic obtained by conversion
the converse of “no S is P ” is “no P is S ” and of “some S is P ” is “some P is S ”
— distinguished from contrary
2. : a thing that is the opposite or reverse of another
proclaim him moral, as well as wise, and the pleasing converse every-way of his disgraced cousin — George Meredith
Synonyms:
obverse , reverse : these three nouns mean in common that which is the opposite in some way of another thing. Although in its chief application, that is, to statements, converse implies an interchange or transposition of the significant terms of a given proposition, in popular use it often signifies a proposition or fact that is merely antithetical or opposing in some way
the relation of wife to husband is called the converse of the relation of husband to wife — Bertrand Russell
the words “I need you” are as potent as ever, and Anthony Gilfillan had made a slip in psychology when he imagined that the converse “You need me” would weigh much — William McFee
if the man stood to profit he would offer his services; if the converse were true he would avoid any involvement
Applied to the two faces of a coin or medal, obverse refers to the face containing the head and the principal inscription, reverse to the other. In strict transfer of this use, obverse may signify the more apparent and intentionally conspicuous side or face of anything, reverse the less apparent or less conspicuous side; in common use, however, obverse and reverse are used alike to refer to the other side or face of anything or to the opposite of anything
good and evil are but the obverse and reverse sides of the same shield — M.J.Herskovits
love means discrimination and preference, and the obverse of that is natural aversion — M.R.Cohen
their rise was merely the obverse of the Empire's fall — A.J.Toynbee
on one side of the sheet was the title; on the reverse, the dedication
V. intransitive verb
: to carry on an exchange similar to a conversation ; especially : to interact with a computer