conversation

Etymology

From Middle English conversacioun, from French conversation, from Latin conversātiōnem, accusative singular of conversātiō (“conversation”), from conversor (“abide, keep company with”). Morphologically converse + -ation.

noun

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.
   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. 1699, William Temple, Heads designed for an essay on conversations
   A little less conversation, a little more action please / All this aggravation ain't satisfactioning me 1968, Mac Davis, Billy Strange (lyrics and music), “A Little Less Conversation”, performed by Elvis Presley
2. (fencing) The back-and-forth play of the blades in a bout.
3. (computing, networking) The protocol-based interaction between systems processing a transaction.
4. (obsolete) Interaction; commerce or intercourse with other people; dealing with others.
5. (archaic) Behaviour, the way one conducts oneself; a person's way of life.
6. (obsolete) Sexual intercourse.
   criminal conversation
   Ariadne[…]quitted her Lover Theseus, for the tumultuous Conversation of Bacchus. 1723, Charles Walker, Memoirs of the Life of Sally Salisbury
   Our travellers had happened to take up their residence at a house of exceeding good repute, whither Irish ladies of strict virtue, and many northern lasses of the same predicament, were accustomed to resort in their way to Bath. The landlady therefore would by no means have admitted any conversation of a disreputable kind to pass under her roof. Indeed, so foul and contagious are all such proceedings, that they contaminate the very innocent scenes where they are committed, and give the name of a bad house, or of a house of ill repute, to all those where they are suffered to be carried on. Folio Society 1973, p. 333
7. (obsolete) Engagement 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. 1570, John Dee, in H. Billingsley (trans.) Euclid, Elements of Geometry, Preface

verb

1. (nonstandard, transitive, intransitive) 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... 1983, James Frederick Mason, Hélène Joséphine Harvitt, The French review
   ...he has breakfasted me, dined me, conversationed me, absolutely caressed me. He has been really most kind and paternal... 1989, Robert L Gale, A Henry James encyclopedia
   After all this conversationing, Scottie, my usual dance partner, was getting antsy and wanted to dance. 2002, Georgie Nickell, I Only Smoke on Thursdays