English → Latin
“converse” in Latin
The English word converse itself goes back to Latin convertō, through conversus.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
converse v.
loqui cum aliquo (general term = to speak): sermocinare or sermonem conferre cum aliquo (to have a discourse): cum aliquo colloqui (of a tête-à-tête, especially to settle some matter): confabulari or sermones familiares conferre cum aliquo (of familiar or intimate conversation): to converse very agreeably with anybody, jucundissime loqui cum aliquo: to converse about anything, habere sermones de aliqua re; disputare de aliqua re (alleging reasons for and against anything): here they conversed on litterary, scientific subjects, *erant ibi sermones de litteris or de artium studiis atque doctrina: Tiberius hardly ever conversed even with, etc., nullus Tiberio aut rarissimus etiam cum (proximis) sermo (Suet., Tib., 68). To converse together, colloqui inter se or inter nos, vos, etc., [ ☞ colloqui secum = to converse with one’s self, to think over anything with one’s self, etc.] Vid: also, “to have or hold a conversation,” under CONVERSATION.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for converse?
- The usual Latin words for “converse” are sermōcinor, cōnfābulor. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.