Cŏn'ver-sā'tion, n.
n. [Lat. conversatio, Fr. conversation, Pr. conversacio, Sp. conversacion, It. conversazione.]
Sense 1. General course of conduct; behavior; deportment. [Obs.]
Let your conversation be as becometh the gospel. Phil. i. 27.
Be ye holy in all manner of conversation. 1 Pet. i. 15.
Sense 2. Familiar intercourse; intimate fellowship or association; close acquaintance. “Conversation with the best company.” Dryden. “Much conversation in books.” Bacon.
Sense 3. Familiar discourse; general interchange of sentiments; unrestrained and informal talk; chat.
The influence exercised by his [Johnson’s] conversation directly upon those with whom he lived, and indirectly on the whole literary world, was altogether without a parallel. Macaulay.
Sense 4. Sexual intercourse. [Obs.] Bp. Hall.
Synonyms—Intercourse; communion; commerce; familiarity; discourse; dialogue; colloquy; talk; chat.—CONVERSATION, TALK. There is a looser sense of these words, in which they are synonymous; there is a stricter sense, in which they differ. Talk is usually spoken, familiar, and versatile. Conversation is more continuous and sustained, and turns ordinarily upon topics of higher interest. Children talk to their parents or to their companions; men converse together in mixed assemblies. Dr. Johnson once remarked, of an evening spent in society, that there had been a great deal of talk, but no conversation. “Talkers,” says Lord Bacon, “are commonly vain, and credulous withal; for he that talketh what he knoweth will also talk what he knoweth not.”