Noun

Singular conversation

Plural conversations

conversation (plural conversations)

1. (obsolete) Interaction; commerce or intercourse between people.
2. (obsolete) Sexual intercourse.
   • 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society 1973, p. 333:

     The landlady therefore would by no means have admitted any conversation of a disreputable kind to pass under her roof.

3. (archaic) Behaviour, the way one conducts oneself; a person's way of life.
   • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, New York Review of Books, 2001, p. 50:

     There are many that take no heed what happeneth to others by bad conversation , and therefore overthrow themselves in the same manner through their own fault, not foreseeing dangers manifest.

4. 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.

5. (fencing) The back-and-forth play of the blades in a bout.

Related terms

• converse
• conversant
• conversational

Derived terms

• conversation piece

A conversation is communication between multiple people. It is a social skill that is not difficult for most individuals. Conversations are the ideal form of communication in some respects, since they allow people with different views on a topic to learn from each other. A speech, on the other hand, is an oral presentation by one person directed at a group.

For a successful conversation, the partners must achieve a workable balance of contributions. A successful conversation includes mutually interesting connections between the speakers or things that the speakers know. For this to happen, those engaging in conversation must find a topic on which they both can relate to in some sense. Those engaging in conversation naturally tend to relate the other speaker's statements to themselves. They may insert aspects of their lives into their replies, to relate to the other person's opinions or points of conversation.

Conversation is indispensable for the successful accomplishment of almost all activities between people, especially the coordination of work, the formation of friendship and for learning.

Through history many people have been noted for their conversation, among them Socrates, Samuel Johnson, Marie Thérèse Rodet Geoffrin, Anne Louise Germaine de Staël and Gregory Bateson.

Conversation analysis is a branch of sociology which studies the structure and organization of human interaction, with a more specific focus on conversational interaction.