converser

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

English converse

Proto-Indo-European *-yósder.

Proto-Italic *-āzios

Latin -āriusnom.

Latin -āriusbor.

Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz

Proto-West Germanic *-ārī

Old English -ere

Middle English -ere

English -er

English converser

From converse + -er.

Noun

converser (plural conversers)

1. One who converses.
   • 1850, R[alph] W[aldo] Emerson, “Plato; or, The Philosopher”, in Representative Men: Seven Lectures, Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson and Company, […], →OCLC, page 58:

     If he made transcendental distinctions, he fortified himself by drawing all his illustrations from sources disdained by orators and polite conversers; from mares and puppies; from pitchers and soup-ladles; from cooks and criers; the shops of potters, horse-doctors, butchers, and fishmongers.

   • 2006, Brandon Stosuy, Up is Up, But So is Down, page 205:

     I can't fathom how it will be to communicate with no one but myself. Of course the radio is no converser at that distance, with those mountains.

Anagrams

• conserver

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin conversārī.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔ̃.vɛʁ.se/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

Verb

converser

1. (intransitive, literary) to converse

   Synonyms: deviser, discuter, s'entretenir

Conjugation

Conjugation of converser (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	converser
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	conversant /kɔ̃.vɛʁ.sɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		conversé /kɔ̃.vɛʁ.se/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	converse /kɔ̃.vɛʁs/	converses /kɔ̃.vɛʁs/	converse /kɔ̃.vɛʁs/	conversons /kɔ̃.vɛʁ.sɔ̃/	conversez /kɔ̃.vɛʁ.se/	conversent /kɔ̃.vɛʁs/
	imperfect	conversais /kɔ̃.vɛʁ.sɛ/	conversais /kɔ̃.vɛʁ.sɛ/	conversait /kɔ̃.vɛʁ.sɛ/	conversions /kɔ̃.vɛʁ.sjɔ̃/	conversiez /kɔ̃.vɛʁ.sje/	conversaient /kɔ̃.vɛʁ.sɛ/
	past historic2	conversai /kɔ̃.vɛʁ.se/	conversas /kɔ̃.vɛʁ.sa/	conversa /kɔ̃.vɛʁ.sa/	conversâmes /kɔ̃.vɛʁ.sam/	conversâtes /kɔ̃.vɛʁ.sat/	conversèrent /kɔ̃.vɛʁ.sɛʁ/
	future	converserai /kɔ̃.vɛʁ.sə.ʁe/	converseras /kɔ̃.vɛʁ.sə.ʁa/	conversera /kɔ̃.vɛʁ.sə.ʁa/	converserons /kɔ̃.vɛʁ.sə.ʁɔ̃/	converserez /kɔ̃.vɛʁ.sə.ʁe/	converseront /kɔ̃.vɛʁ.sə.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	converserais /kɔ̃.vɛʁ.sə.ʁɛ/	converserais /kɔ̃.vɛʁ.sə.ʁɛ/	converserait /kɔ̃.vɛʁ.sə.ʁɛ/	converserions /kɔ̃.vɛʁ.sə.ʁjɔ̃/	converseriez /kɔ̃.vɛʁ.sə.ʁje/	converseraient /kɔ̃.vɛʁ.sə.ʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	converse /kɔ̃.vɛʁs/	converses /kɔ̃.vɛʁs/	converse /kɔ̃.vɛʁs/	conversions /kɔ̃.vɛʁ.sjɔ̃/	conversiez /kɔ̃.vɛʁ.sje/	conversent /kɔ̃.vɛʁs/
	imperfect2	conversasse /kɔ̃.vɛʁ.sas/	conversasses /kɔ̃.vɛʁ.sas/	conversât /kɔ̃.vɛʁ.sa/	conversassions /kɔ̃.vɛʁ.sa.sjɔ̃/	conversassiez /kɔ̃.vɛʁ.sa.sje/	conversassent /kɔ̃.vɛʁ.sas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	converse /kɔ̃.vɛʁs/	—	conversons /kɔ̃.vɛʁ.sɔ̃/	conversez /kɔ̃.vɛʁ.se/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms

• conversation

Descendants

• → German: konversieren

Further reading

• “converser”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Latin

Verb

converser

1. first-person singular present passive subjunctive of conversō

Old French

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin conversō.

Verb

converser

1. to converse (discuss; talk; speak)
   • c. 1176, Chrétien de Troyes, Cligès:

     Ce fut fantosme, se devient, qui antre nos a conversé

     This was a ghost, it turns out, who spoke among us

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. The forms that would normally end in *-ss, *-st are modified to s, st. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

    Conjugation of converser (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		converser			avoir conversé
gerund		en conversant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		conversant
past participle		conversé
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	convers	converses	converse	conversons	conversez	conversent
	imperfect	conversoie, converseie, conversoe, converseve	conversoies, converseies, conversoes, converseves	conversoit, converseit, conversot, converseve	conversiiens, conversiens	conversiiez, conversiez	conversoient, converseient, conversoent, conversevent
	preterite	conversai	conversas	conversa	conversames	conversastes	converserent
	future	converserai	converseras	conversera	converserons	converseroiz, conversereiz, converserez	converseront
	conditional	converseroie, conversereie	converseroies, conversereies	converseroit, conversereit	converseriiens, converseriens	converseriiez, converseriez	converseroient, conversereient
compound tenses	present perfect	present tense of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect tense of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	preterite tense of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future tense of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional tense of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que jo	que tu	qu’il	que nos	que vos	qu’il
simple tenses	present	convers	convers	converst	conversons	conversez	conversent
	imperfect	conversasse	conversasses	conversast	conversissons, conversissiens	conversissoiz, conversissez, conversissiez	conversassent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	converse	—	conversons	conversez	—

Descendants

• → English: converse
• French: converser