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Conversation vs Communication - What's the difference?

conversation | communication |

Communication is a hypernym of conversation.



In obsolete terms the difference between conversation and communication

is that conversation is sexual intercourse while communication is association; company.

As nouns the difference between conversation and communication

is that conversation is expression and exchange of individual ideas through talking with other people; also, a set instance or occasion of such talking while communication is the act or fact of communicating anything; transmission.

As a verb conversation

is to engage in conversation (with).

conversation

Noun

(en noun)
  • Expression and exchange of individual ideas through talking with other people; also, a set instance or occasion of such talking.
  • * 1699 , , Heads designed for an essay on conversations
  • 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.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=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.}}
  • * , chapter=12
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=All this was extraordinarily distasteful to Churchill.
  • (fencing) The back-and-forth play of the blades in a bout.
  • (obsolete) Interaction; commerce or intercourse with other people; dealing with others.
  • * 1526 , (William Tyndale), trans. Bible , Acts XI:
  • Yt chaunsed thatt a whole yere they had their conversacion with the congregacion there, and taught moche people insomoche thatt the disciples off Antioche we the fyrst that wer called Christen.
  • (archaic) Behaviour, the way one conducts oneself; a person's way of life.
  • *, 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.
  • (obsolete) Sexual intercourse.
  • * 1723 , Charles Walker, Memoirs of the Life of Sally Salisbury :
  • (Ariadne)quitted her Lover (Theseus), for the tumultuous Conversation of (Bacchus).
  • * 1749 , (Henry Fielding), , 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.
  • (computing) The protocol-based interaction between systems processing a transaction.
  • Synonyms

    * (expression and exchange of ideas through talking) banter, chat, chinwag, dialogue, discussion, interlocution, powwow, table talk

    Derived terms

    * conversational * conversation piece

    Usage notes

    * To make conversation means to start a conversation with someone with no other aim than to talk and break the silence. * To have' a conversation, and to ' hold a conversation, both mean to converse. * See

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (nonstandard, ambitransitive) To engage in conversation (with).
  • * 1983 , James Frederick Mason, Hélène Joséphine Harvitt, The French review
  • Gone now are the "high-minded" style, the "adapted from literature" feel, the voice-over narration, and the abstract conversationing about ideas, values...
  • * 1989 , Robert L Gale, A Henry James encyclopedia
  • ...he has breakfasted me, dined me, conversationed me, absolutely caressed me. He has been really most kind and paternal...
  • * 2002 , Georgie Nickell, I Only Smoke on Thursdays
  • After all this conversationing , Scottie, my usual dance partner, was getting antsy and wanted to dance.

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * ----

    communication

    English

    Noun

    (wikipedia communication) (en noun)
  • The act or fact of communicating anything; transmission.
  • communication of smallpox
    communication of a secret
  • (uncountable) The concept or state of exchanging data or information between entities.
  • Some say that communication is a necessary prerequisite for sentience; others say that it is a result thereof.
    The node had established communication with the network, but had as yet sent no data.
  • A message; the essential data transferred in an act of communication.
  • Surveillance was accomplished by means of intercepting the spies' communications .
  • The body of all data transferred to one or both parties during an act of communication.
  • The subpoena required that the company document their communication with the plaintiff.
  • An instance of information transfer; a conversation or discourse.
  • The professors' communications consisted of lively discussions via email.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Argument and friendly communication .
  • A passageway or opening between two locations; connection.
  • A round archway at the far end of the hallway provided communication to the main chamber.
  • * Arbuthnot
  • The Euxine Sea is conveniently situated for trade, by the communication it has both with Asia and Europe.
  • (anatomy) A connection between two tissues, organs, or cavities.
  • * 1855, William Stokes, The Diseases of the Heart and the Aorta Page 617
  • ...and here a free communication had been established between the aorta and the vena cava.
  • (obsolete) association; company
  • * Bible, 1 Corinthians xv. 33
  • Evil communications corrupt manners.
  • Participation in the Lord's supper.
  • (Bishop Pearson)
  • (rhetoric) A trope by which a speaker assumes that his hearer is a partner in his sentiments, and says "we" instead of "I" or "you".
  • (Beattie)

    Derived terms

    * anticommunication * communication disorder * communication engineering * communications satellite * confidential communication * excommunication * miscommunication * noncommunication * privileged communication * telecommunication ----