Converse

How to spell converse

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce converse

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does converse mean?

1. verbTo hold a spoken exchange with someone; to talk.
2. nounA statement, idea, or situation that is the reverse of another.

Converse in a sentence

• verb

  The two managers would often converse over coffee before the meeting started.

• noun

  The report claims that quality improves sales, but the converse is also true.

• verb

  She could converse comfortably in three languages while travelling.

• noun

  In logic, swapping the two halves of a conditional gives you its converse.

Where does converse come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word actually braids together two strands from the same Latin family of turning. The verb meaning 'to talk' arrived through Old French converser, from Latin conversari, which literally meant 'to turn oneself about' and so came to mean 'to keep company with' or 'to live among', built from com- 'with, together' and versare 'to keep turning'. The noun and adjective meaning 'the opposite' instead grew from conversus, the past participle of Latin convertere 'to turn around', so a converse statement is one turned back to front. Both senses entered English in the 1300s and 1500s, which is why they share a spelling but split apart in stress and meaning. The same vertere root powers a crowd of relatives such as 'reverse', 'convert', and 'version', and remembering that shared 'turn' idea fixes the -verse ending in place.

How the word is built

• con- (with, together)
• verse (from Latin versare/vertere: to turn)