Conversation Meaning
/ˌkɒn.vəˈseɪ.ʃn̩/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounExpression and exchange of individual ideas through talking with other people; also, a set instance or occasion of such talking.
nounExpression 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.
Sentence Examples
The professor teaches English conversation.
Wit gives zest to conversation.
The main topic of conversation was Tom's new girlfriend.
CEFR Practice Quiz
During the long dinner, the ____ about politics became very heated.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The professor teaches English ____.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English conversacioun, from Old French conversacion and its etymon, Latin conversātiōnem, accusative singular of conversātiō (“conversation”), from conversor (“abide, keep company with”). Doublet of conversazione. Morphologically converse + -ation.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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:
"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."
— 1876 June, Henry James, Jr., “The American”, in The Atlantic Monthly: A Magazine of Literature, Science, Art, and Politics, volume XXXVII, number CCXXIV, Boston, Mass.: H[enry] O[scar] Houghton and Company; New York, N.Y.: Hurd and Houghton; Cambridge, Mass.: The Riverside Press, chapter I, page 655, columns 1–2:
"When this conversation was repeated in detail within the hearing of the young woman in question, and undoubtedly for his benefit, Mr. Trevor threw shame to the winds and scandalized the Misses Brewster then and there by proclaiming his father to have been a country storekeeper."
— 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
"All this was extraordinarily distasteful to Churchill.[…]Never before had he felt such repulsion when the vicar displayed his characteristic bluntness or coarseness of speech. In the present connexion—or rather as a transition from the subject that started their conversation—such talk had been distressingly out of place."
— 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
"A little less conversation, a little more action please / All this aggravation ain't satisfactioning me"
— 1968, Mac Davis, Billy Strange, “A Little Less Conversation”, performed by Elvis Presley:
Explore More A1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
During the long dinner, the ____ about politics became very heated.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The professor teaches English ____.