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Converse vs Whisper - What's the difference?

converse | whisper | Related terms |

Converse is a related term of whisper.


As verbs the difference between converse and whisper

is that converse is while whisper is to speak softly, or under the breath, so as to be heard only by one near at hand; to utter words without sonant breath; to talk without that vibration in the larynx which gives sonorous, or vocal, sound.

As a noun whisper is

the act of speaking in a quiet voice, especially, without vibration of the vocal cords.

converse

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl)

Verb

(convers)
  • (formal) To talk; to engage in conversation.
  • * Shakespeare
    • Companions / That do converse and waste the time together.
  • * Dryden
    • We had conversed so often on that subject.
  • To keep company; to hold intimate intercourse; to commune; followed by with .
  • * Thomson
    • To seek the distant hills, and there converse / With nature.
  • * Sir Walter Scott
    • Conversing with the world, we use the world's fashions.
  • * Wordsworth
    • But to converse with heaven — This is not easy.
  • (obsolete) To have knowledge of (a thing), from long intercourse or study.
  • * John Locke
    • according as the objects they converse with afford greater or less variety
    Derived terms
    * conversation

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Familiar discourse; free interchange of thoughts or views; conversation; chat.
  • * 1728 , (Edward Young), Love of Fame, the Universal Passion , Satire V, On Women, lines 44-46:
    • Twice ere the sun descends, with zeal inspir'd, / From the vain converse of the world retir'd, / She reads the psalms and chapters for the day [...].
  • * 1919 , (Saki), ‘The Disappearance of Crispina Umerleigh’, The Toys of Peace'', Penguin 2000 (''Complete Short Stories ), p. 405:
    • In a first-class carriage of a train speeding Balkanward across the flat, green Hungarian plain, two Britons sat in friendly, fitful converse .

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl)

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Opposite; reversed in order or relation; reciprocal.
    • a converse proposition

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The opposite or reverse.
  • (logic) Of a proposition or theorem of the form: given that "If A is true, then B is true", then "If B is true, then A is true."''
    equivalently: ''given that "All Xs are Ys", then "All Ys are Xs"     .
    • All trees are plants, but the converse , that all plants are trees, is not true.
    Derived terms
    * conversely

    Anagrams

    * * English heteronyms ----

    whisper

    English

    Noun

    (Whispering) (en noun)
  • The act of speaking in a quiet voice, especially, without vibration of the vocal cords.
  • * 1883 , :
    • "Now, look here, Jim Hawkins," he said, in a steady whisper , that was no more than audible.
  • (usually in plural) A rumor.
    • There are whispers of rebellion all around.
  • (figurative) A faint trace or hint (of something).
    • The soup had just a whisper of basil.
  • (internet) A private message to an individual in a chat room.
  • * 2002 , Ralph Schroeder, The Social Life of Avatars (page 218)
    • The invisibility of private interactions in the form of whispers resolved an ethical concern in the research but reduced our ability to gauge the volume of interaction
  • * 2004 , Caroline A. Haythornthwaite, Michelle M. Kazmer, Learning, Culture and Community in Online Education (page 179)
    • Anyone logged in to the chat room can click on an individual name, highlighting it, and send a message — a whisper — that will be seen only by the selected person.

    Derived terms

    * stage whisper * whisper campaign

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To speak softly, or under the breath, so as to be heard only by one near at hand; to utter words without sonant breath; to talk without that vibration in the larynx which gives sonorous, or vocal, sound.
  • To mention privately and confidentially, or in a whisper.
  • * Bentley
    • They might buzz and whisper it one to another.
  • To make a low, sibilant sound.
  • * Thomson
    • the hollow, whispering breeze
  • To speak with suspicion or timorous caution; to converse in whispers, as in secret plotting.
  • * Bible, Psalms xli. 7
    • All that hate me whisper together against me.
  • (obsolete) To address in a whisper, or low voice.
  • * Shakespeare
    • and whisper one another in the ear
  • * Keble
    • where gentlest breezes whisper souls distressed
  • (obsolete) To prompt secretly or cautiously; to inform privately.
  • * Shakespeare
    • He came to whisper Wolsey.