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conversation

nounverbcommon in dialogue

  • United Kingdom//ˌkɒn.vəˈseɪ.ʃn̩//
  • United Kingdom/[ˌkʰɒɱ.vəˈseɪ.ʃn̩]/
  • United States//ˌkɑn.vəɹˈseɪ.ʃən//
  • United States/[ˌkʰɑɱ.vɚˈseɪ.ʃn̩]/
  • Canada//ˌkɒn.vəˈseɪ.ʃn̩//

Expression and exchange of individual ideas through talking with other people; also, a set instance or occasion of such talking.

noun

  1. 1

    Expression and exchange of individual ideas through talking with other people; also, a set instance or occasion of such talking.

    I had an interesting conversation with Nicolas yesterday about how much he's getting paid.

    You need to improve conversation in foreign languages.

    Study gives strength to the mind; conversation, grace: the first apt to give stiffness, the other suppleness: one gives substance and form to the statue, the other polishes it.

    M. Nioche pressed his finger-tips together and slowly raised his shoulders. “A little conversation!” / “Conversation—that’s it!” murmured Mademoiselle Noémie, who had caught the word. “The conversation of the best society.” / “Our French conversation is famous, you know,” M. Nioche ventured to continue.

  2. 2

    Expression and exchange of individual ideas through talking with other people; also, a set instance or occasion of such talking. Dialogue or interaction regarding a topic.

  3. 3

    The back-and-forth play of the blades in a bout.

  4. 4

    The protocol-based interaction between systems processing a transaction.

  5. 5

    obsoleteInteraction; commerce or intercourse with other people; dealing with others.

    Yt chaunſed thatt a whole yere they had their converſacion with the congregacion there / and taught moche people in ſomoche thatt the diſciples off Antioche wer the fyrſt that wer called Chriſten.

  6. 6

    archaicBehaviour, the way one conducts oneself; a person's way of life.

    Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

    There are many that take no heed what happeneth to others by bad conversation, and therefore overthrow themselves in the same manner through their own fault, not foreseeing dangers manifest.

    I have desired him to inquire after Lovelace's life and conversation in town.

  7. 7

    obsoleteSexual intercourse.

    criminal conversation

    Ariadne[…]quitted her Lover Theseus, for the tumultuous Conversation of Bacchus.

  8. 8

    obsoleteEngagement with a specific subject, idea, field of study etc.

    So grosse is our conuersation, and dull is our apprehension: while mortall Sense, in vs, ruleth the common wealth of our litle world.

  9. 9

    archaicA kind of confectionery lozenge bearing a message on its surface.

Etymology

From Middle English conversacioun, from Old French conversacion and its etymon, Latin conversātiōnem, accusative singular of conversātiō (“conversation”), from conversor (“abide, keep company with”). Displaced native Old English wordlaþu. Doublet of conversazione. Morphologically converse + -ation.

verb

  1. 1

    To engage in conversation (with).

    Gone now are the "high-minded" style, the "adapted from literature" feel, the voice-over narration, and the abstract conversationing about ideas, values...

    ...he has breakfasted me, dined me, conversationed me, absolutely caressed me. He has been really most kind and paternal...

    After all this conversationing, Scottie, my usual dance partner, was getting antsy and wanted to dance.

Forms

plural
conversations
past tense
conversationed
past participle
conversationed
present participle
conversationing
third person singular
conversations
The neighbouring pagesAlphabetical order follows the rules of the language, not byte values: an accent decides only between two otherwise identical words, and Spanish files Ñ as a letter of its own.

Lexical content from Wiktionary, under CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source entry · Data version 2026-08-23

Rank among the words of the OpenSubtitles 2018 corpus — film and television subtitles, so spoken rather than written usage (CC BY-SA 3.0).