Verb

(head)

(confer)

Verb

(conferr)

(obsolete) To compare.

* 1557 (book title):

The Newe Testament ... Conferred diligently with the Greke, and best approued translations.

*, II.3.1.i:

Confer thine estate with others […]. Be content and rest satisfied, for thou art well in respect to others […].

* Boyle

If we confer these observations with others of the like nature, we may find cause to rectify the general opinion.

To talk together, to consult, discuss; to deliberate.

* 1974 , "A Traveler's Perils", Time , 25 Mar 1974:

Local buttons popped when Henry Kissinger visited Little Rock last month to confer with Fulbright on the Middle East oil talks.

(obsolete) To bring together; to collect, gather.

To grant as a possession; to bestow.

* Milton

the public marks of honour and reward conferred upon me

* 2010 , Andrew Rawnsley, The Observer , 7 Feb 2010:

The special immunities that are conferred on MPs were framed with the essential purpose of allowing them to speak freely in parliament.

(obsolete) To contribute; to conduce.

* Glanvill

The closeness and compactness of the parts resting together doth much confer to the strength of the union.

Verb

(negotiat)

To confer with others in order to come to terms or reach an agreement.

* 1963 , , to the eight fellow clergymen who opposed the civil rights action, "Letter from Birmingham Jail," Why We Can't Wait

"You are quite right in calling for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue."

To arrange or settle something by mutual agreement.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author=(Timothy Garton Ash)

, volume=189, issue=6, page=18, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Where Dr Pangloss meets Machiavelli , passage=Hidden behind thickets of acronyms and gorse bushes of detail, a new great game is under way across the globe.

To succeed in coping with, or getting over something.

* {{quote-news, year=2012, date=June 29, author=Kevin Mitchell, work=the Guardian

, title= Roger Federer back from Wimbledon 2012 brink to beat Julien Benneteau , passage=Novak Djokovic earlier had negotiated his own tricky passage through the fifth day.}}

(obsolete) To transact business; to carry on trade.

(Hammond)

(obsolete) To intrigue; to scheme.

(Francis Bacon)