Convene Con·vene" intransitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Convened ;
present participle & verbal noun Convenong .] [ Latin
convenire ;
con- +
venire to come: confer French
convenir to agree, to be fitting, Old French also, to assemble. See
Come , and confer
Covenant .]
1. To come together; to meet; to unite. [ R.]
In shortsighted men . . . the rays converge and convene in the eyes before they come at the bottom.
Sir I. Newton.
2. To come together, as in one body or for a public purpose; to meet; to assemble. Locke. The Parliament of Scotland now convened .
Sir R. Baker.
Faint, underneath, the household fowls convene .
Thomson.
Syn. -- To meet; to assemble; to congregate; to collect; to unite.
Convenient Con·ven"ient adjective [ Latin
conveniens ,
-entis , suitable, present participle of
convenire to be suitable, to come. See
Convene ,
intransitive verb ]
1. Fit or adapted; suitable; proper; becoming; appropriate. [ Archaic]
Feed me with food convenient for me.
Prov. xxx. 8.
Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient .
Eph. v. 4.
2. Affording accommodation or advantage; well adapted to use; handly; as, a convenient house; convenient implements or tools. 3. Seasonable; timely; opportune; as, a convenient occasion; a convenient season. Acts xxiv. 25. 4. Near at hand; easy of access. [ Colloq.]
Hereties used to be brought thither, convenient for burning.
Thackeray.
Syn. -- Fit; suitable; proper; adapted; fitted; suited; handly; commodious.
Convent Con"vent noun [ Latin
conventus a meeting, Late Latin also, a convent. See
Convene ,
intransitive verb ]
1. A coming together; a meeting. [ Obsolete]
A usual ceremony at their [ the witches] convents or meetings.
B. Jonson.
2. An association or community of recluses devoted to a religious life; a body of monks or nuns. One of our convent , and his [ the duke's] confessor.
Shak.
3. A house occupied by a community of religious recluses; a monastery or nunnery. One seldom finds in Italy a spot of ground more agreeable than ordinary that is not covered with a convent .
Addison.
Syn. -- Nunnery; monastery; abbey. See
Cloister .
Conversation Con`ver·sa"tion noun [ Middle English
conversacio (in senses 1 & 2), Old French
conversacion , French
conversation , from Latin
conversatio frequent abode in a place, intercourse, Late Latin also, manner of life.]
1. General course of conduct; behavior. [ Archaic]
Let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel.
Philip. i. 27.
2. Familiar intercourse; intimate fellowship or association; close acquaintance. "
Conversation with the best company."
Dryden. I set down, out of long experience in business and much conversation in books, what I thought pertinent to this business.
Bacon.
3. Commerce; intercourse; traffic. [ Obsolete]
All traffic and mutual conversation .
Hakluyt.
4. Colloquial discourse; oral interchange of sentiments and observations; informal dialogue. The influence exercised by his [ Johnson's] conversation was altogether without a parallel.
Macaulay.
5. Sexual intercourse; as, criminal conversation . Syn. -- Intercourse; communion; commerce; familiarity; discourse; dialogue; colloquy; talk; chat. --
Conversation ,
Talk . There is a looser sense of these words, in which they are synonymous; there is a stricter sense, in which they differ.
Talk is usually broken, familiar, and versatile.
Conversation is more continuous and sustained, and turns ordinarily upon topics or higher interest. Children
talk to their parents or to their companions; men
converse together in mixed assemblies. Dr. Johnson once remarked, of an evening spent in society, that there had been a great deal of
talk , but no
conversation .