conversation

Pluralconversations

1. 1
   talknouncountable or uncountable

   The sharing and exchange of personal ideas through talking with others, or a particular instance of talking together.

   The two leaders held a private conversation before the summit began.

   A good conversation can shift how you see an entire issue.

   UsageYou have a conversation with someone about something; make conversation means polite small talk to fill a silence.

   Similarchat, discussion, dialogue, banter

   Note

   Talk is the narrow end of a broad word. Latin conversor meant "abide, keep company with," and English long kept that wider sense of living among others, in the obsolete "dealings" sense and the archaic "conduct" sense.

2. 2
   way of lifenounarchaicuncountable

   A person's behavior and manner of conducting themselves; one's whole way of life.

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

   1748, [Samuel Richardson], Clarissa

   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.

   1611, The Holy Bible, King James Version

   Note

   This is the word as a measure of how someone lives. In the King James Bible of 1611, "Let your conversation be without covetousness" concerns conduct, not speech. The pairing "life and conversation," used when Samuel Richardson's Clarissa (1747–48) has someone inquire after Lovelace's, weighs a person's habits morally. Today it sounds archaic and is easily misread as talk, so gloss it when quoting. Source

   Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 6 facts

   • Conversation can mean a person's conduct or way of life. en.wiktionary.org
   • The King James Bible was first published in 1611. loc.gov
   • Hebrews 13:5 contains the quoted wording, with conversation referring to conduct. en.wikisource.org
   • Samuel Richardson wrote Clarissa. gutenberg.org
   • Clarissa was first published in instalments in 1747–1748; its first two volumes appeared in 1747. en.wikipedia.org
   • Clarissa uses 'life and conversation' when someone requests an inquiry into Lovelace's conduct. gutenberg.org
3. 3
   nounobsoleteuncountable

   Interaction or dealings with other people; one's commerce and social intercourse 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.

   1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt (Tyndale Bible)

   Similarintercourse

   Note

   In William Tyndale's New Testament of 1526, a whole year of "conversation with the congregation" at Antioch means living and teaching among its people, not chatting with them. This is the keeping-company meaning behind the everyday sense, and it is now obsolete. Read it in older texts as association or dealings. In modern writing it would simply be taken as talk. Source

   Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

   • William Tyndale's New Testament first appeared in 1526. collections.museumofthebible.org
   • Tyndale's Acts 11:26 describes a whole year of association and teaching among the congregation at Antioch. gutenberg.org
   • The historical sense means association or dealings with other people. en.wiktionary.org
   • The everyday talking sense has its roots in keeping company. en.wiktionary.org

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