Converse

v. i. [imp. & p. p. CONVERSED (kon-verst'); p. pr. & vb. n. CONVERSING.] [Lat. conversari, from con and versari, to be turned, to live, remain, from versare, to turn often, v. intens. of vertere, versum, to turn; Fr. converser, Pr. & Sp. conversar, It. conversare.]

1Sense 1. To keep company, or have familiarity; to hold intimate intercourse; to commune; — followed by with.

Him who lonely loves To seek the distant hills, and there converse With nature. Thomson.

Conversing with the world, we use the world's fashions. W. Scott.

2Sense 2. To talk familiarly; to interchange thoughts and opinions in a free, informal manner; to chat.

Companions That do converse and waste the time together. Shak.

3Sense 3. To have sexual commerce. [Obs.] Guardian.

Synonyms—To associate; commune; discourse; talk; speak.

n. 1. Frequent or customary intercourse; familiarity; acquaintance.

’Tis but to hold Converse with Nature’s charms, and view her stores unrolled. Byron.

2Sense 2. Familiar discourse or talk; free interchange of thoughts or opinions; conversation.

Formed by thy converse happily to steer From grave to gay, from lively to severe. Pope.

3Sense 3. (Logic.) 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.

☞ 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.

4Sense 4. (Math.) 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 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. Math. Dict.

a. [Lat. conversus, p. p. of convertere. See CONVERT.] Turned about; reversed in order or relation; reciprocal; as, a converse proposition.